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“I chose The Higher Certificate in Business - Tourism as I had a keen interest in travel and tourism. The WIT website gave an overview of what was included in the course, for example guiding, Irish culture and heritage, travel trade operations and IT. The fact there was a wide variety of jobs available in this field influenced my decision to apply for this course. Graduates have gone on to work in Travel Agencies, as Tour Operators and in Tourist Information Offices amongst other careers.
I'm from Waterford and I choose Waterford Institute of Technology as it was convenient. WIT main campus is on the Cork Road, about 20 minutes from the city centre. The main campus has 7 buildings and there is a campus at College Street (Law and Humanities) and at Carrignore (Research and Development). It's a good college and the lecturers are very helpful. The college is very lively and the on campus bar, The Dome, has great bands, DJ's and theme nights.
In year 1 we had about 20 in the class - we have only 3 guys with the rest being girls. The small class is an ideal situation as it works well and we learn a lot more. We have about 20 lectures a week which also includes practicals in guiding and travel trade operations. The practical element is very interesting because it gives us hands-on experience which will enable us to be fully employable in the work force. After year 1 we have the opportunity to do relevant work experience which is necessary to go into year 2. I did mine at Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre. I worked in retailing, which also involved explaining how the crystal was made, explaining V.A.T and cash back procedures and also dealing with shipping the crystal. We had a huge customer base with Waterford Crystal been the main visitor attraction in the South East.
As part of the course we get the opportunity to learn a foreign language. I did french in secondary school however on this course we are doing German. It was difficult at first but now I enjoy it. As well as the language we also learn about German culture and tourism. I have a German culture project due at the end of the year so I intend to go to Berlin and see its visitor attractions to compare them to ours.
My favourite subjects in year 1 were Irish culture and heritage, introduction to tourism and visitor information, with its strong geography element, which has given me the background for the guiding course in year 2. This year we are also studying tour operations. The Galileo GDS training will give us the opportunity to work in travel agencies, as this qualification is mandatory to work there. Another favourite subject is tourism studies, which defines what tourism is all about.
We have a combined innovation and marketing project. It is a business plan where we have to set up our own business. It is very practical especially in today's climate. For my project I'm setting up a confectionary shop specialising in healthy and dietary foods.
I would recommend this course as it is very broad and it is geared towards industry. We are lucky to have lecturers with industry experience that they bring to the classroom. I would recommend this course for anyone interested in tourism for its varied subjects, which help place students in front line jobs such as working in tourist offices, historical attractions etc. The business subjects give an insight on how to set up a business. And the course is also a path to progress if I choose to do a degree course.
We have continuous assessments in some subjects of 100%, while others are exam-based with some assessments. It's great that we don’t have just one exam at the end of the year. This helps us with our study plan, especially since you need to get 50% to pass each subject.
I really enjoyed the 2 years. It was not just the course but also my experience as a college student. If you want to do tourism and business, then this course kicks starts your career as it offers 4 qualifications not just one. You get the Advanced Certificate, Local Guiding Badge, ECDL and Galileo.”
Click here to see information on the Higher Certificate in Business - Tourism WD174