Contents
- Career Prospects
- Training
- Duration
- Eligibility
- Nature of Entrance Test
- Diploma for under graduate
- Graduate and Postgraduate courses
- Travel & Tourism Courses in India
- Government Approved Training Centers in Kerala
Today travel and tourism industry has become one of the largest individual industries in the world and the largest contributor to economic development. It provides employment opportunities, increases incomes, helps to diversify the economy, spreads development, broadens educational and cultural horizons, reinforces preservation of heritage and tradition, and promotes a global community.
Career Prospects
A career in travel and tourism offer many exciting and challenging employment opportunities. Diverse career-oriented job opportunities exists in different sectors like: Tourism office and information centers, food and beverages organizations, tour companies, travel agencies, traffic management, cruise companies, bus companies, rental car companies, insurance, airlines, hotel, motel, resort industry, tourism research, reservation and leisure, tourism, education travel writing, travel journalism, purchasing, games and sports, cargo and own business.
With plenty of opportunities available one can find a job either in the private sector or in the government sector. In the private sector, the activities are divided into two distinct sectors. They are travel agents and Tourism operators. Travel agents basically plan and sell trips to individual and groups at the domestic and international level. They book passengers for air, rail, sea and road travel, arrange hotel reservation or other accommodation and hire car and coaches.
Tourism operations deal in travel and destinations management. They put together and sell package holidays that range from archaeology to golf, wild life to astrology and trekking expeditions to camel safari. One can find job in the government sector in Directorates and development corporations, ITDC hotels, immigration and custom services and in other tourist facilities.
With growing professionalism and the resultant competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry, specialized training is necessary. There are training programs, diploma courses, undergraduate courses, graduate courses, postgraduate courses in this sector. But, before selecting a training program on travel and tourism everyone should see to it that the training program is covering all essential subjects, along with necessary co- related subjects and foreign languages. Also there should be sufficient facilities for practical training program in the courses selected.
Training
The International Air Transport courses Association (IATA) along with the Universal Federation of Travel Agents Association (UFTAA) offers the standard International Travel Agents Training Program. The four-month diploma program open to graduates focuses on industry regulations airline operations, visa and health requirements and customer services. There is also the IATA-UFTAH Advanced International Travel consultant program which offers training in handling international travel business, IATA, in association with the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, provides certified courses for international air – cargo handling.
Tourist guides undergo training of twelve weeks, nine weeks or one or two weeks for regional state and local land courses, respectively. On completion of training, there is a test, after which they are issued I D Cards, red, yellow or green, depending upon the courses undertaken, which must be renewed annually. There is a qualifying test followed by an interview for selection to the tourist guide courses.
Duration
The duration of various diploma courses varies from institute to institute. Various courses in varying duration are available in different institutes spread across the country. The duration varies from one week to two years. The tour guide course is for three months.
Eligibility
At the graduate level, a candidate should have passed the Higher Secondary certificate examination. As most courses are at the postgraduate level, graduation in any discipline in essential. For some other certificate courses S.S.L.C. is the basic qualification.
Nature of Entrance Test
Some institutions conduct entrance test for admission. Generally, the written test will have multiple choice objective type questions on general knowledge, general English and reasoning. There will be a group discussion and personal interview for final selection.
Diploma for under graduate
These are both one year and two year travel and tourism management courses offered by different universities and institutions. The Indian Institute of Travel and Tourism Management, in New Delhi and Gwalior offers fourteen-month courses, and provide guidelines for the standardization of curricula. Some travel agencies have also set up academics for training in travel and tourism management.
Graduate and Postgraduate courses
Universities and institutions all over the country provide courses in graduate and postgraduate level. These programs provide a comprehensive study of the industry to future high level professional managers. It includes management training relevant to travel and tourism operations.
Tourism Courses at Higher Secondary Level
More than 25 Vocational Higher Secondary Schools in Kerala offer Travel & Tourism as the main subject with History, Economics and Geography as the combination.
Government Approved Training Centers in Kerala
- Swastik School of Travel and Tourism Studies, Thiruvananthapuram
- Vani School of Hotel Management, Changanacherry
- Consult Inn Institute of Hotel Management, Kottayam
- Naipunya Institute of Hotel Management, Thrissur
- Oriental School of Hotel Management, Wayanad
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