Each year, the GTTP holds a competition for the best school research project on a given topic. Students develop their research skills, analytical skills, and communication skills, all of which are essential for a successful career in travel & tourism.
2024 Topic:
Create a Social Media Campaign, Based on Research, to Attract Talent to Travel & Tourism.
How the Competition Works
Participating students are asked to consider creative ways to illustrate key recommendations that could help build an effective “Talent Pipeline” through a social media strategy.
Teams submit their entries to their national competition. Each GTTP member country determines how it will organize its national competition, what is required to enter, and when the entries must be submitted. All questions on entering your national competition should be directed to the GTTP Director in your country.
Each GTTP member country then selects one winning team. The winning team is invited to the GTTP International Student Teacher Conference, to be held in Europe in November 2024. Some flights and accommodation are generously covered by the GTTP Global Partners.
The winning teams present their research findings, participate in activities and sightseeing, and meet students and teachers from all GTTP-member countries, plus representatives from the GTTP Global Partners and Board of Directors.
Getting Started
You may want to consider the following:
- Rethinking recruitment for tourism through online activity –what would you consider changing about the way people are hired through online sources for tourism jobs?
- What is social recruiting and how does it work? Share how your country use social media to get people interested in tourism.
- Outline the potential benefits/challenges of an online recruitment strategy. List the advantages/disadvantages of hiring people online.
- How to build brand presence online. How can you make people notice your presence online? Can you provide examples from your country?
- How to use campaign data analytics to evaluate online success. How to use data to check if your online efforts to hire people are working?
- Explore multiple channels available to achieve results. Explore the different platforms or channels available to achieve the results you want.
- Creating a value proposition with a social media strategy for talent acquisition. Make a good presentation/offer using social media to attract new talent.
Connect with your GTTP Country Director to get the full details on your national competition criteria and deadlines.
You may also wish to review past winners’ projects. A full list can be found here.
Remember, you do not have to look at all the questions. Choose what will make an interesting research topic for your team.
Competition Process
The overall winning team in each country will be invited to send a ONE teacher and two students to the GTTP International Student Teacher Conference, which will be held in Europe this year. The planned dates are 2024 Sunday 10 – Wednesday 13 November. Flights and accommodation are provided by our Global Partners for the two students and Teacher. Some meals are also covered by our Global Partners.
Participants have an opportunity to meet GTTP Global Partner Advisory Board Members and other industry professionals, with some down time for sightseeing and networking with other GTTP students and teachers from around the world.
Deliverables
Each winning team must present their research report to include the methodology, working photos and a lesson plan by the teacher showing how the information can be used in a classroom setting. In addition to the research report, teams need to prepare a presentation on how they will share their experience with the other participants.
The way your team presents its findings is for you to decide, but your presentation should be professional, and available in a PowerPoint or Prezi format. Your team will be allocated a 20-minute slot to present, followed by a 10-minute Q&A from students, teachers, and members of the Global Partner Advisory Board who may ask you questions about your project.
Your presentation must be forwarded to GTTP prior to your travelling to the Student/Teacher Conference. Please review the GTTP website for samples from previous years.
For further information:
GTTP website at www.gttp.org.
Contact your GTTP Country Director
History of the Competition
An endowment established in honour of Aldo Papone, former president of American Express Travel Related Service Company, helps fund the competition. Mr. Papone was a strong believer in tourism education and student creativity. When he retired, a fund was established in his name to support excellence and innovation in tourism education. The GTTP’s share of the fund is used to support the research competition.