AS/A2 Travel & Tourism

Do you like holidays? Would you like to travel in the future? Do you want to try something different? Are you unsure about your future career path? Do you prefer coursework to exams? Then try Travel and Tourism.

An interesting and lively course, A Level Travel and Tourism began nationally in September 2005 and is the successor to the vocational A Level previously taught in College.

What are the entry requirements?

For many of you Travel and Tourism will be an entirely new subject, but for some of you it will be a progression from a GCSE involving tourism. Standard College entry requirements apply.

What will I study and how will it be assessed?

We follow the OCR specification.

The AS consists of three units:

• Introducing Travel and Tourism – an introduction to the development of the industry and organisations involved.
• Customer Service in Travel and Tourism – you will learn the importance of customer service, whilst developing your own customer service skills.
• Travel Destinations – an opportunity to research two contrasting destinations.

In A2 we will be covering a further three units:

• Tourism Development – investigating reasons for tourism growth.
• Event Management – planning and executing an event.
• Guided Tour – researching guided tours and then devising and presenting a tour.

Four of the six units are assessed through coursework. As this is marked by us, there is plenty of opportunity for guidance and improvement as it is being done.

Each unit carries equal marks.

A lot of lessons involve working independently to research information by using a range of resources such as the Internet, journals, newspapers, videos, guidebooks and pamphlets.

Also information is gained from trips to tourism organisations and travel destinations.

In the past there have been visits to Manchester Airport, Chester Zoo, Blue Planet Aquarium, and to Dublin, Blackpool, Southport, Manchester and Liverpool.

Does Travel and Tourism link particularly well with other subjects?

You may be asking what other AS Levels does it combine with? The answer is many such as – Business Studies, Law, Psychology, Modern Languages, English, Theatre Studies, Performing Arts, Sport and Physical Education.

Where might it lead me?

The Travel and Tourism course will allow you to develop a wide range of skills that are important in the workplace and will help increase your employability. IT, research, time management, teamwork, communication and customer service skills are all vital components of the course.