Small and medium-sized travel companies are to be encouraged to take on apprentices as part of a government initiative.
It is exploring the possibility of a new Apprenticeship Training Agency (ATA) specifically for tourism ‘to help bring through the next wave of talent’.
The tourism sector has been invited to put forward their views on piloting an ATA following this week’s meeting of the Tourism Council, which was set up last year to look at ways to improve employment in the sector.
The Tourism Council is jointly chaired by tourism minister Helen Grant, skills minister Nick Boles and president for EMEA at Hilton Worldwide Simon Vincent and consists of representatives from the travel and tourism industry.
A bespoke tourism ATA would look at ways apprentices could experience training at a number of different businesses at the same time as supporting small and medium-sized businesses to take on apprentices.
The Tourism Council is also spearheading a week-long social media push to help showcase career opportunities.
The social media drive, launched yesterday to coincide with English Tourism Week, is using the hashtags #TourismCareers and #MyTourismJob.
Part of the campaign includes running a competition via @dcms (the Department for Culture, Media and Sport) where people will have the chance to shadow senior figures from Tourism Council members. This includes Hilton, Easyjet, Expedia and Eurostar.
Grant said: “The government is completely committed to supporting and promoting the tourism sector. The industry plays a key role in our long-term economic plan and we want to help showcase the great opportunities that exist in the industry.
“The Tourism Council is a fantastic forum for the industry and Government to work together and come up with solutions that can help the sector continue to grow and thrive. The idea of a Tourism Apprenticeship Training Agency is one that I think we should explore and the Council will be interested in hearing the industry’s views on this.”
