How a technology partnership boosted the next generation of global tourism employment

The Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP), together with their global technology partners, Equator Global and Travel Uni, have dramatically grown their global reach and ability to deliver learning and education over the past 4 years.

In 2019 GTTP taught around 400,000 students. In the past year alone over 750,000 students aged between 16 and 19 have received free travel educational courses. The partnership has enabled GTTP to reach many new audiences by using Equator Global’s e-Learning technology. It has significantly boosted reach to rural communities in regions such as the Caribbean, Africa and Asia including India, with Nepal being the latest country to receive access to the platform.

Commenting on the contribution made by Equator Global and Travel Uni, Anne Lotter the Global Director of GTTP said: “Ian Dockreay and the team have worked tirelessly to provide the technological infrastructure and worldwide distribution to bring our courses to even the most inaccessible places on earth. Communities far and wide have benefited from our greatly enhanced ability to deliver our life-changing knowledge and we and our global partners are delighted by how this has transformed the organisation.”

The course content ranges from information on why to consider the industry for future careers through to the importance of providing responsible and sustainable travel experiences for travellers.

Ian Dockreay, Chief Executive of Equator Global and Travel Uni said of the partnership: “This year we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of Travel Uni, and working in partnership with GTTP in recent years has added so much to our broader educational remit for the travel industry. It allows us to contribute so much to the students’ whole journey, from reaching them when they are considering travel as a career option, through providing them with further education advice and contacts, to their choosing which area of the industry they can and would like to seek employment in. Travel Uni has delivered free e-Learning to many hundreds of thousands of travel agents and other tourism professionals over the last 20 years and this partnership programme is all about contributing to the future generations of our industry.”

GTTP’s educational programme has never been more important. Tourism and hospitality remain a key economic pillar for governments throughout the world and providing qualified students to fill the recruitment gaps that are becoming evident right across the globe, is both essential and urgent.

Dockreay added: “We should be very concerned that the UK government is set to drop travel and tourism from the national curriculum at the level 3 stage. To lose the awareness and inspiration that our industry provides such wide-ranging prospects for so many young people, when they begin considering career options, is not in the economic interests of this country’’.

In contrast, 3,500 schools and educational establishments and over 4,500 teachers and educators now benefit from the real-time online delivery of the e-Learning provided by the GTTP Portal, across 16 regional offices spread across the world.

Travel is, after all, one of the biggest contributors towards employment and economic growth in the world and by harnessing the power of collaboration, GTTP and Equator Global along with Travel Uni can together deliver tangible results in this crucial and diverse service industry.