Tourism Northern Ireland has teamed up with the region’s six Further and Higher Education Colleges to celebrate World Tourism Day.
The gathering, which took place today at the Grand Central Hotel in Belfast, took place during Northern Ireland’s first Tourism and Hospitality Week.
Made up of a series of engaging events for both industry and the public, the week aims to celebrate the contribution the tourism and hospitality sector makes to society and the local economy.
During today’s event, tourism lecturers from the six regional colleges gathered to meet some of the Tourism NI teams and hear about the work currently being undertaken.
It was the first of a series of activities planned for the academic year to ensure that the tourism curriculum is aligned to the strategic objectives of Tourism NI and the Economic Vision such as Good Jobs, Regional Balance, Productivity and the Reduction of Carbon Emissions.
The collaboration, funded by the Department of Economy, brings together the six regional colleges including Belfast Metropolitan College, North West Regional College, Northern Regional College, South Eastern Regional College, South West College and Southern Regional College.
The programme fully recognises the vital role that Further and Higher Education tourism lecturers play in educating and inspiring learners that ultimately will create the future pipeline of tourism employees.
As part of the new collaboration, tourism lecturers will be invited to visit a range of Northern Ireland tourism experiences with the aim of increasing their personal knowledge.
The educators will also undertake Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) Days which will provide opportunities to forge links across the tourism sector outside their own geographical area.
The tourism lecturers who attended today’s event were welcomed by Eimear Callaghan, Head of Experience and Industry Development at Tourism NI. A number of Tourism NI teams then delivered an overview of their work.
Those delivering the briefings included Jessica Hoyle and Gary Quate, from Experience Development, Sarah Field, from City and Growth, Carolyn Boyd, from Industry Development, Sarah Hannity, from Marketing, Siobhan McGuigan, from Major Events, and George Diamondis, from Golf Marketing.
Helen McGorman, Head of Stakeholder Engagement (NI) at Tourism Ireland, also presented an overview of the organisation’s work.
Following the briefings, the lecturers spent the afternoon exploring two Belfast tourism attractions, Crumlin Road Gaol and the newly opened McConnell’s Irish Whisky Distillery.
Eimear Callaghan, Head of Experience and Development at Tourism NI, said: “We are delighted to celebrate World Tourism Day with our colleagues from the education sector.
“The tourism lecturers gathered here today have a critical role to play in inspiring students and ensuring they are fully prepared for joining our industry in future years,” she said.
“We are a sector based on people and having a pipeline of future talent through our college networks right across Northern Ireland is of vital importance for the long-term sustainability of our sector.”
Mark Rice, Curriculum Hub Manager for Hospitality and Tourism at Belfast Metropolitan College, said: “We are delighted to kick off our annual programme of Continuous Professional Learning for tourism lectures today, aptly on World Tourism Day.
“More than 30 lecturers and tutors from across the college network gathered here today to learn from Tourism NI teams and take that timely, industry knowledge back to the classroom. Partnerships such as this are crucial to ensuring our students are best prepared for their future careers.”
