Pupils’ tourism careers get off the ground thanks to Glasgow Airport

Scotland’s next generation is learning about career opportunities in one of the country’s largest and most important industry sectors thanks to Glasgow Airport.

A project which introduces young people to the opportunities available in the hospitality and tourism sectors is being paid for with £40,000 from the Glasgow Airport FlightPath Fund.

The airport is also playing an active role in the delivery of the project and recently hosted an interactive session with pupils from Drumchapel High School, to demonstrate the wide range of jobs and career progression opportunities available at the airport.

The aim of the Skills for Sustainable Tourism project, which was devised by the charity Scottish Business in the Community (SBC), is to encourage these young people to move into education, training or employment in the tourism and hospitality sectors when they leave school.

With Glasgow Airport employing only around a tenth of the 4,500 workforce based on the airport campus, business partners World Duty Free also took part to give the pupils a retail perspective.

glasgow airport

Craig Martin, Glasgow Airport’s head of human resources, took part in the recent session with the children. He said: “This programme recognises the importance of tourism and hospitality in Scotland, and comes at exactly the right time with the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and Homecoming all taking place in 2014.

“These interactive sessions are a great way to inform these young people about the huge range of jobs and career progression opportunities that exist at Glasgow Airport and a range of other organisations. Hopefully some of the visitors will return to take up employment here in the future!”

As the goal is to enable the Drumchapel youngsters to learn about every aspect of the tourism and hospitality industries, and increase their awareness and opportunities, the airport visit is just one of several facilitated by SBC including Glasgow 2014, Holiday Inn, Intercontinental Hotels and Rabbie’s Tours.

Bob Christie, SBC’s regional manager for Glasgow, said: “It is great news that a prominent business like Glasgow Airport, which supports thousands of jobs in tourism and hospitality both directly and indirectly, has chosen to fund this project in its entirety.

“During an economic downturn there is a greater risk that young people will leave school without employment, education or training, however we believe there are a significant number of opportunities available in tourism and hospitality which provide a route to both work and skills development.

“By funding and participating in this programme, Glasgow Airport has shown it is willing to invest in the future of the young people in its community and the future of Scotland’s tourism industry.”

Find out more here http://www.glasgowairport.com/

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