Curriculum
The travel and tourism sector is the UK’s third-largest employer
The travel and tourism sector is the UK’s third largest employer, accounting for 9.5% of total employment. Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK in employment terms, employing nearly 3 million people, and the value of tourism to the UK economy is approximately £121 billion (7.1%) of UK GDP. In 2016, travel and tourism contributed 10.2% of the world GDP and the sector now supports 292 million people in employment – that’s one in ten jobs worldwide.
The tourism industry covers a wide range of sectors including accommodation, airlines, airports, music events, hospitality, sports events and many more. It is an exciting subject area that changes every day with news stories all around the world from natural disasters to Brexit!
Years 7, 8 and 9
In Key Stage 3 travel and tourism is linked into the following Literacy for Life themes:
Year 7:
- Citizen Me
- Going Green
- Water
Year 8:
- Coast
- Coming and Going
- Invasion
Year 9:
- Who’s Earth is it anyway?
- Careers
- The Big Apple
KEY STAGE 4 and 5
The Travel and Tourism qualifications will cover a range of topics that relate to a wide variety of sectors in the industry including accommodation, transport, airport management, events organisation and travel agents. You will learn how to communicate with customers effectively as well as evaluating and analysing the impacts of tourism in several case studies at a local, national and global scale such as natural disasters and political developments. This will help you develop a range of skills that can be transferred to the world of work, as well as at higher education.
This subject will offer you the opportunity to experience some of the destinations you study on residential trips where you will participate in tourism activities and get the opportunity to interview current employees in the industry. This could include visits to attractions in the UK, a training session with British Airways at London Heathrow, and overseas destinations on a cruise with P&O to name a few.
WHAT CAN TRAVEL AND TOURISM LEAD TO?
This is a nationally recognised vocational course that could lead to many employment opportunities such as roles in retail travel, passenger transport, tourist attractions, airports, airlines, hotels, conferences and events, holiday resorts, and hospitality and entertainment, the list is endless.
You may want to build on your knowledge in higher education with a degree in a related field such as tourism, hotel or aviation management, which could lead to higher-paid careers in the future.
There are also a wide variety of apprenticeship opportunities available in the travel and tourism industry that can be an excellent way to start a career working for well-established organisations such as TUI and British Airways.
HOW WILL I BE ASSESSED?
Travel and Tourism is a vocational subject area that is assessed with both internal and external assessment. The internal assessment will include assignments that are completed in the classroom and on trips. The majority of work is on the computer, this allows modifications and development of exploration work to be achieved before the assessed assignments are distributed. Typical activities involve analysing industry statistics, planning, evaluating an event and writing a business plan for a tourism organisation. This means that students can often achieve grades above those expected as they have rehearsed work in preparation and have their own examples to refer to.
There are also external paper-based examinations in this qualification that is completed in traditional exam conditions and marked by the exam board.
WHAT SKILLS ARE REQUIRED?
The travel and tourism qualification will provide learners with a wide range of transferable skills useful for any future career. To be able to complete the course learners will need to be able to;
- Research different travel and tourism organisations, the features of tourist destinations, and the products and services available to meet the needs of different customers
- Consider the attitudes that are considered to be very important in the travel and tourism sector, including how to develop tourism while respecting the environment and local communities.
- Have an interest in the industry and keep up to date with current news stories around the world.
- Be able to work in groups and with peers to complete practical activities both in and out of the classroom.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
As part of the travel and tourism qualification, students need to collect evidence for the assignments which involves guest speakers visiting the academy and trips. More information will be provided for any trips well in advance and support provided to students where necessary.
Miss Loxton
Ever since completing Tourism as an A level during Sixth Form, this was a subject I knew I wanted to take forward into university and graduated with a BA Honours Degree in Tourism Management. Living in Barcelona, Spain pushed forward my decision in sharing a passion of the world with students and encouraging them to experience the love of our globe. I joined Shireland in 2019 and currently lead the Travel and Tourism department.
