This year an estimated 3,000 students will complete a travel and tourism course at a UK college, a figure that is set to rise as more and more young people choose a career in travel.
In fact, according to the colleges which offer such courses, travel and tourism has never been so popular.
West Hertfordshire College in Watford, for example, has seen its intake increase from 50 students in 1991 to over 200 this year.
What’s more, as classes expand, the number and type of courses available is also increasing with over 80 Higher National Diplomas and degrees courses on offer in UK universities.
In theory, this should be good news for employers, but in practice many find that college-leavers lack the skills and qualities needed to perform the simplest tasks. They complain that students display poor interpersonal skills, lack the discipline required to hold down a full-time job and have only a basic knowledge of the travel industry.
Cettina Brook, joint owner of Stockport-based independent agency Brooks Travel is so unimpressed with the quality of graduates around now she avoids taking on people straight from courses.
She said: “They come here and they haven’t got a clue. Their geography is appaling. I don’t understand what they actually learn at college.
“The burden is on us to train them up. I would rather pay the full rate and get someone experienced who knows what they are doing than have to start from scratch and train them for six months ourselves,” she said.
Brook is not alone in her criticism. Manager of London-based Tara Travel, Cathriona O’Kelly, rarely recruits people straight from college.
“The people who work here who have done a course say it hasn’t really given them an advantage because everything they need to know they have learned here,” she said.
Thomas Cook, Lunn Poly and Going Places have long since established their own courses, preferring to recruit school-leavers into a real job and provide work-based training.
Even smaller groups such as Co-op Travelcare prefer to take on 16 and 17-year olds as apprentices, rather than college graduates.
Co-op Travelcare head of personnel Pam Oliver said:”Students do work experience as part of their courses but half the time they end up making the tea. We prefer to take on modern apprentices so they are gaining an National Vocational Qualification as they work.
“It means they have to prove that they can do certain tasks. It is much better than just sitting an exam at the end of the year.”
So, is there actually any point in going to college to study a travel and tourism course?
The Travel Training Company training programme general manager Sharon White, said colleges still have an important role to play.
She said:”Often 16 and 17-year-olds are not ready to start work. They want to keep their options open.”
West Herts College is one college which is working hard to ensure that its travel and tourism syllabus is as up to date and relevant as possible.
Head of department Rod James said: “Every teacher here has worked in travel themselves. We also get people from the industry in to help deliver and assess the courses, as well as giving talks.
“We have our on-site travel agency where students get a chance to take real live bookings from clients.”
But he points out that colleges can’t be held entirely responsible for meeting employers needs.
“We have done a lot to make the course practical and give people the kind of qualifications they recognise. “If employers want students to be trained in a certain way they should to tell us.
“They tell us to do all the work and then cherry-pick the best ones. It should be a partnership approach. It is the only way to make sure courses meet students’ and employers’ needs.”