Travel and Tourism – Level 3

Required qualifications

• 4 GCSEs at Grades 8- 4 including English or maths, or 5 GCSEs at Grades 8 – 4 excluding English or maths, or Level 2 qualification in a related subject.

You will need an adequate standard of English and maths. 

• Mature learners with other qualifications and/or experience are also welcomed
• You should have a strong interest in working in the travel and tourism industry and demonstrate a commitment to succeed.

What skills will I develop?

The course will give you the opportunity to gain an insight into the ever-growing travel and tourism sector.

Business travel agents, Tour operators, airlines, hotels and tourist attractions are just some of the businesses seeking to recruit new up and coming talent. You will take a tour of learning throughout the course to develop knowledge on how it works and who is part of this exciting industry.

Learning about destinations tourists can visit in the UK and much further afield will be included in your course and to enhance this learning we will take you on trips and visits to a range of destinations and attractions.

To enable you to be prepared to work in this industry we focus on employability skills and to bring this learning to life we invite external guest speakers into our lessons (often our old students) to give you an insight into the industry first hand.

On successful completion of year one you will be able to progress to year two. During your first year you will additionally complete an additional qualification aviation operation on the ground and in the second year the additional qualification will be Cabin Crew.

After the two years you may wish to go into industry or move to a higher level of education.

Careers

Tourism is one of the most economically important industrial activities in the world. More than a billion people take an international tourist trip every year and this number is increasing year on year. Tourism accounts for nearly 10% of global GDP and one in every 11 jobs.

The industry is fast paced and has a wide range of job opportunities available including

• Travel Agent
• Holiday rep
• Air Cabin Crew
• Airport ground staff
• Cruise consultant
• Tour guide
• Tourist Information Centre staff
• Customer service agent
• Business travel Agent
• Working for a tour operator

Salaries in the industry can be varied and you may find that to begin with it may not be as competitive as other sectors. The industry is fun and exciting and never are two days the same You will need to be prepared to work unsociable hours, but also be prepared to create unforgettable memories. What other job could see you sitting on a beach in the Mediterranean on a bleak Monday morning? Or flying passengers to New York where you can stay and enjoy this wonderful city?

There are always opportunities to climb the ladder and progress to higher levels within the all the different components of the travel and tourism sector. For example, you may start as cabin crew for a short haul airline and progress to long haul. You then may wish to work in business travel using the experience you have gained and then progress to management. The opportunities are endless.

Work experience

Work experience is valuable part of this course and will give you the skills, knowledge and importantly the experience for potential employment opportunities.

As the industry is very customer service focused you will need to engage in work experience which will give you experience. Examples of these could be McDonalds, your local pub, Drayton Manor or somewhere such as New Look.

Work experience is crucial and will develop skills in communication, time management, dealing with a variety of customer situations and the ability to work individually and as part of a team.

English and maths

Throughout the course we will develop your maths and English and you won’t even know we are doing it. This could be enhancing your communication skills by working on your written course work or the delivery of a welcome meeting or transfer speech scenario. You could be calculating a flight duration and arrival times using time zones or working or the cost of a trip for a customer in Euros or Dollars.

Other important information

To bring the course to life and to provide you with an enhanced learning experience we will run trips and visit throughout the year in this country and overseas. Some of the trips will be mandatory as they will form a part of essential information needed to complete certain work.

We also require learners to wear uniform for cabin crew and aviation lessons. Black/navy skirt or trousers along with a white shirt, blouse or smart t shirt. A scarf or tie to complement this uniform will need to be purchased from the college at a cost of around £18.00

We ask for all learners to come prepared to learn and will provide them with a list of stationary to do this. You will need an A4 pad, pencil case including pens, pencils, or felt tips, rubber, glue stick and ruler.