Engagement with the tourism sector is a central tenet of educating the youth of the Cayman Islands.
And for the Cayman Prep and High School’s first A-level classes, this included organising a recent trip to various East End sites to experience attractions first-hand.
“On our trip we did water based activities to educate the year 10 travel and tourism class about the domestic eco marine tourism around the island,” said student Emily Galbraith.
“The first day we went to Sunset House and snorkelled there.
We drove up to the Reef Resort – where we spent the night.
At the end of the first day we went on the bioluminescence boat tour at Kaibo.
“The second day we checked out at the Reef Resort and went up to Rum Point,” she said.
“The whole group went on the glass bottom boat with Red Sail then afterward some of the group went on the banana boat.”
Career opportunities
The trip was organised by the students as part of their course work for the new Travel and Tourism A-level offered by the school, said Natalie Jordan, a course tutor who was present as examiner.
“Travel and Tourism was introduced as an A-Level in September of this year.
We offer it already at GCSE level and no other school offer it on island so we wanted to offer something that is fitting with our island and students interests,” she said.
“It is a popular A-Level and has a full class.
Travel and tourism is all around us in the Cayman Islands and the travel and tourism industry offers a plethora of jobs and career opportunities that suits all kinds of personalities.
We wanted to make sure we can help students enter this field if it interests them.”
Ms. Jordan said the course encouraged students to appreciate the scale and importance of the travel and tourism industry in the world and recognise the positive and negative impacts the industry may have on people, environments and economies.
“Students learn that the travel and tourism industry is dynamic in nature and how the industry responds to change, for example external factors such as changing consumer needs and expectations and developments in ICT,” she said.
“This course provides an opportunity to explore what our island has to offer and see first-hand how businesses run. Students build relationships with companies and workers here on Island in the travel and tourism industry as a lot of the learning involves visits to local businesses.”
Complex situations
Through this, students are encouraged to learn practical and technical skills relevant to the industry, enabling them to deal with a range of complex situations and problems and prepare them for the work world.
“Students must complete a course work project to pass the course which involves planning, managing and hosting an event.
“This is the reason the students hosted the East End Adventure trip,” Ms. Jordan said.
The students were also assisted by a host of sponsors for their trip, Miss Galbraith said.
“Sunset House provided us with snorkelling gear & 10 per cent off meals, Redsail gave us 50 per cent off Banana Boating and 50 per cent off the Glass Bottom Boat, Kite House gave us a $220 discount on the bioluminescence tour, RBC sponsored $250 for our trip, Scotiabank sponsored $198,” she said.
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