Travel and Tourism Conference is a Great Success

Fife College students were thrilled to attend the College’s annual Travel and Tourism Conference, held at the Carnegie Conference Centre, recently.

The 8^th annual Conference was organised by HNC Events students which hosted a range of different organisations such as Jet 2 and Canvas Holidays. The companies provided students from the College’s Tourism, Events and Retail department with invaluable advice and tips on how to succeed in the industry and even provided some of them with job opportunities for when they complete their studies.

The Conference was designed to give the students an in-depth insight into the interview assessment process and what they should expect at a real life industry interview. The students took part in various workshops in the morning which included interactive general knowledge quizzes which tested their teamwork abilities before moving on to one-on-one interviews in the afternoon.

HNC Events students were responsible for all aspects of the event which included venue booking, set-up and preparing an event itinerary.

Julia Sherriffs, (18) from Dunfermline; Gayle Wilson, (31) from Glenrothes and Rebecca Stewart, (28) from Rosyth were just three of nine students responsible for the delivery of the event.

Rebecca said: “I feel the event has been a great success. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and there was a really good atmosphere all round. “Organising events, particularly of this size, is always something I have been passionate about. Before I came to College, I organised a variety of different events such as weddings but decided I would like to gain an industry recognised qualification. Our lecturer, Fiona has been a great help in supporting us to come out of our comfort zone and for that I am very grateful.”

Lecturer at Fife College, Fiona McLeod is delighted with the students’ professionalism and the delivery of the event, particularly so early in their course. Said Fiona: “All of the students were fantastic and they all played crucial parts in ensuring the event was a success. For many of them this is the first real event they have managed and it really ticked all the boxes. They put on an enjoyable, memorable event and they should be very proud of themselves.

“Also, a very well done to those who managed to secure jobs with great companies at the event. The event really tested the students’ knowledge of the industry and the skills they have developed in class and to have gained employment this early in their studies is a great accomplishment.”

Applications for courses starting in January are open now. This includes Certificate: Introduction to Fashion and NC Introduction to Customer Service and Retail.