College Choice: Tourism employs almost 250,000 and generates more than €5.3 billion per annum for the Irish economy.
Hotels, restaurants and bars are the major employers within the Irish hospitality sector and hotels in particular offer many career opportunities in operations, line management, marketing, human resources and in ancillary activities such as spas and leisure centres.
Tourism also includes visitor centres, corporate and event catering, superpubs and clubs, sports arenas, airlines, internet cafes, adventure centres and reservation centres.
Some 6,000 new employees are needed every year to service the expanding hospitality and tourism industry, according to Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority.
Application routes
It is not necessary to apply through the CAO system to gain an internationally recognised tourism qualification. Fáilte Ireland offers opportunities across the hospitality industry, including programmes in craft and skills, training up to advanced certificate and degree level. Many of these programmes include work experience modules, so that students are employable from the very beginning of the course. Most Fáilte Ireland craft and skills training programmes are also grant-assisted without any means testing, so students are paid a training allowance while attending college.
Skills training courses are held in Fáilte Ireland training centres throughout the country. They take place over 13 weeks and lead to a national skills certificate. On completion of the course, trainees can go directly into employment or can apply for further full-time, college-based training. They can also opt for on-the-job training through the industry qualification scheme or apply for the national apprenticeship scheme.
Craft certificate courses are held at institutes of technology and are supported by Fáilte Ireland. These full-time courses run for one or two years and lead to an advanced certificate. Graduates can then go into employment, take short professional development courses or apply to take a higher certificate degree course.
Many of the most successful chefs now working in Ireland and abroad have completed the three-year national apprenticeship programme, combining one day a week at college with learning their craft in a hotel or restaurant kitchen.
Similarly, a growing number of young managers are participating in the trainee manager development programme, which takes three years and is based on distance learning. Entrants are trainee managers with industry experience, aged 17 and over, who have passed the Leaving Cert (including English and maths). Graduates are awarded the higher certificate in business studies (hotel management).
Certification
All Fáilte Ireland courses in skills training, craft certificate, advanced and higher certificate and degree lead to qualifications awarded by the Further Education and Training Awards Council or the Higher Education Training Awards Council, which are recognised internationally.
Hoteliers and tourism industry employers recruit the majority of potential managers from among college graduates with degrees in hotel and catering management or a related discipline.
Institutes of technology and some universities offer these degrees and entry is through the CAO applications procedure.
CAO programmes
Level 7/6 courses are widely available from ITs and are awarded in hotel and catering management, tourism, hotel and catering supervision, hotel and restaurant management, leisure management, international bar and food service management, culinary arts, hospitality management, event management and a huge range of related areas.
Level 8 degree courses lead to degrees in hospitality management (DIT, Waterford and Tralee), business studies with tourism (Limerick IT), culinary arts (DIT), hotel and catering management (GMIT), bar management (Tallaght IT), tourism marketing (DIT) and event management (DIT).
For more information on careers in tourism, contact Fáilte Ireland on 1850 256 256 or to log onto www.failteireland.ie
Tomorrow: Medicine and veterinary