New Zealand’s tourism and service sector industry training organisation (ITO), Service IQ and Go with Tourism, have announced a partnership to attract secondary school students into tourism and hospitality careers.
Starting in term one 2021, ServiceIQ’s teaching content will be supported by the Go with Tourism Education Programme.The Education Programme is a government-funded initiative to build the tourism workforce, and was launched in July 2020 to provide New Zealand youth with accurate and wide-ranging information about careers in tourism. The Programme is conducted by Regional Coordinators who visit secondary schools across the country to deliver specially curated lessons.
The partnership between ServiceIQ and Go with Tourism will strengthen services offered to both students and teachers, says Matt Stenton, Programme Director for Go with Tourism.
“By collaborating we can avoid duplicating resources and programmes within the classroom, amplify our offering and widen our reach. It’s a beneficial partnership to all involved.”
Doug Pouwhare, General Manager – Talent Supply & Transitions at ServiceIQ, says that the work conducted by both ServiceIQ and Go with Tourism is hugely complementary, especially for secondary students. “We supply comprehensive classroom resources for hospitality and tourism training that mirror workplace learning, plus gateway programmes where students can gain real-world experience. Everything we create and deliver has the student, their NCEA credits and post-school career in mind.”
Secondary school students have been identified as a crucial market for the tourism industry rebuild. In the next 2-5 years, tourism will hope to recruit this generation of workers to fill the skills shortage gap.
Both Stenton and Pouwhare believe educating students on the wide range of career pathways available in tourism will be key to attracting them.
“When you say ‘tourism’ to many New Zealanders they think ‘camper vans’ or ‘tour guides’,” says Pouwhare. “Yes, those are part of tourism, but the wider visitor experience involves many more job opportunities, which includes the many facets of hospitality and retail, as well as aviation.”
“People believe the myth that tourism is solely made up of entry-level roles,” says Stenton. “They forget that you progress from those roles and build a successful career thereafter, much quicker– in fact – than many other industries.”
