Travel & Tourism students visit Airline Training Centre before trip to Disneyland Paris!

March has been a busy month for Level 3 Travel & Tourism students at East Sussex College Eastbourne with trips to an Airline training centre and Disneyland Paris, as the industries’ ‘post-Covid travel’ ramps up ahead of the summer holiday season.

According to Condor Ferries, tourism contributes £106 billion to the British economy & GDP and supports 2.6 million jobs. By 2025 the UK tourism industry will be worth over £257 billion, around 10% of the UK GDP. The industry supports 3.8 million jobs and has a huge impact on the UK economy. Why would you not want to be part of this industry?

Jeanette Beckwith, Travel & Tourism Co-ordinator at East Sussex College Eastbourne, said, “There is a huge rise in jobs now Covid restrictions being lifted in all aspects of Travel & Tourism. Currently many airlines like British Airways, EasyJet and Wizz Air are hiring. Travel agents have seen a growth both retail and online and students learn about this career option.

“Over the two years we also cover event management, cruise industry and tour guides plus many other careers, all that will now see a huge growth with people eager to travel. Another fast-growing area is specialist and responsible tourism holidays, which are all covered in Year 2.”

East Sussex College Eastbourne students studying Level 3 Travel & Tourism spent two days at JARE Airline Training Centre in Bournemouth completing their Cabin Crew SEP training at the start of March.

At the training centre, students completed activities in which they achieved a certificate. This was part of their Unit 14 Investigating Cabin Crew. The programme and activities included an emergency evacuation slide, a smoke-filled cabin, donning a smoke hood, pre-flight PA & demo, a galley fire, and IFS snack lunch service.

Speaking about the students’ trip to the JARE Airline Training Centre, Jeanette said, “It puts classroom learning into a real situation and gives students the chance to see what real Cabin Crew roles are like.

“It’s also a great team builder opportunity and prepares students for early starts and long days, as most travel & tourism jobs need stamina and the ability for punctuality.”

A week after their trip to Bournemouth, students spent two days at the Hastings Campus using a fuselage aircraft structure for their assignment, ‘Practical Tasks as Cabin Crew’.

Recently, Level 3 Travel & Tourism students were also treated to a talk, as part of National Careers Week 2022, from Laura Ross who is a former student of East Sussex College and spent 18 years working for British Airways (BA). Laura spoke to students about the recruitment process for BA and what it’s really like working in Cabin Crew.

Speaking on Laura’s valuable talk to students, Jeanette said, “Her insight and knowledge again enhances class learning. It reinforces information learnt in class and aids completion of assignment work. Students also were able to relate to the National Careers Week activities like application forms, cover letters, interviews, and assessment, linking to BA’s strict recruitment style.

“It also highlighted how important planning your application and the need for a professional CV is. Laura being in uniform also reinforced the importance of personal presentation. At the end of her session I had a few more students interested in a career as Cabin Crew.”

Finally, all the students completed a mock application and cover letter with an online video interview to tie up the experience.

The students are also set to travel to Disneyland Paris on Monday 21 March for the Travel & Tourism Convention and also to have some fun in the parks!

Speaking about the opportunities students get through studying Travel & Tourism at ESCG, Jeanette said, “Eastbourne's Travel & Tourism course allows students to develop transferable skills which can cover a huge range of careers from working abroad, resort rep, hospitality and management.

“A year ago, 50% of our students moved on to university to study international travel linked with either management, event management or marketing. Travel & Tourism at university has seen a huge growth to match the industry's future needs.

She added, “To enhance this course where possible we build in trips and guest speakers. We have visited Thorpe Park to link with our Tourist Attraction unit, London trips, tours of the Grand Hotel and we visit our Hastings campus to use the fuselage for assignments.”

To find out more about studying Level 3 Travel & Tourism at East Sussex College, please click here.