September is tourism month and this coming Saturday we join the world in celebrating World Tourism Day.?A couple of events are schedule to take place across South Africa with the official one being hosted by The National Department of Tourism in the Northern Cape. The theme of this year’s Tourism Month is ‘Tourism Transforming Lives’. It is a theme identified by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom urges all South Africans to get out and explore their beautiful and diverse country.?“The theme for the 2014 tourism month highlights the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value to the country,” comments Kerry Damons of Boston City Campus & Business College.
“We at Boston would like to add to Minister Hanekom’s message and urge young people to consider careers in this vibrant sector of the economy.”?She believes it a good time to investigate the career and study options available in travel and tourism as the industry continues to grow and to offer good job prospects worldwide.?“The church disaster in Nigeria dampened spirits and dominated the news which means that many South Africans possibly didn’t take notice of the good news announced by the World Tourism organisation last week,” says Damons.
“According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourist arrivals grew by 4.6% in the first half of 2014. The organisation announced that destinations worldwide received some 517 million international tourists between January and June 2014 - this is 22 million more than in the same period during 2013!”?Damons also points out that UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, said that tourism is consolidating the positive performance of recent years, providing development and economic opportunities worldwide.
“Indeed, despite geopolitical and economic challenges, the number of international tourist arrivals has grown by 5% a year on average since 2010, a trend that has translated into more economic growth, more exports and more jobs”, he said in an official statement.?On the local front, international tourist arrivals in SA increased significantly. According to the National Department of Tourism, 243,176 travellers arrived in South Africa in January this year - an increase of 8.1% compared with January 2013.?
“We are happy to hear about these positive statistics because it means that our students face a good future when they walk out of our college with their tourism qualifications in hand,” says Damons. “Our job is to ensure that our students are 100% ready for the demands of the industry.”?To get a foot in the industry and find a good job, you need to get training from an accredited training provider.
Boston City Campus & Business College offers a three-year certificate in travel and tourism operations; a two-year certificate in hotel and catering operations; a two-year certificate in hospitality management; a certificate in reservations and front-of-house, and a certificate in tourism. These courses have modules such as tourism geography and customer service, business English, bookkeeping and office practice to ensure students have the skills needed to build a successful career in tourism.
These courses also require experiential training, which means students have to spend a predetermined period of time getting real work experience and they have to complete workplace assessments. ?To further round off their education, Boston students get the opportunity to speak to industry experts and to go on field trips and outings to local tourist attractions, hotels and so on. In the case of hotel and catering training, students attend practical kitchen workshops. ?
Damons, however, points out that it’s not only a tourism qualification that will get you into the tourism industry. There are non-tourism courses that open the doors to the tourism industry: you can enrol for the internationally recognised marketing qualification offered by Boston and specialise in tourism marketing for example. Or you can enrol for media studies and become a journalist who specialises in writing travel articles. Photography also plays an important role in tourism marketing - you can study photojournalism at Boston Media to become a travel photographer for travel and tourism publications, both print and digital.?
Growing numbers?International:
International tourist arrivals worldwide grew by average 4.6% in the first half of 2014 according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer: ?
· Growth was strongest in the Americas with +6 % growth. Most popular destinations were North America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Brazil (due to the FIFA world cup, Brazil saw an increase of 60% in June and July)?
· Asian destinations Japan, Republic of Korea and Malaysia posted double-digit growth rates.?· Europe continues to be the most visited region in the world and grew by +5 % despite the financial crisis. ?
· Africa’s international arrivals grew by 3% overall.?South Africa: In January 2014 - 243,176 travelers arrived in South Africa, which is an increase of 8.1% compared with January 2013.?South Africans choosing to holiday in their home country contributed R24.3-billion to the economy last year, which is an increase from R21.8-billion in 2012. ?The number of domestic trips in the first quarter of 2014 increased by 44.4% since the same period in 2012.?
For more information on Tourism Month and events, visit www.tourism.gov.za. For more information on course and qualifications, visit www.boston.co.za.
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