Amadeus Archives - Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP)

GTTP students present a message of unity, diversity and multicultural cooperation

Between the 2nd and 6th of December, the GTTP (Global Travel and Tourism Partnership) welcomed students and teachers from around the world to our annual research competition and awards, hosted by Amadeus and Starwood, at the Amadeus Executive Briefing Centre and Meridien Hotel Nice.

This year’s theme – Heritage Tourism – honoured GTTP’s 20th Anniversary celebrations and looked at how Heritage Tourism can attract more visitors and enhance the tourist experience in their respective countries.

Twenty students were selected as the 2016 Student Research Competition winners from over 2,000 entries. Over the two days the students presented heritage tourism sites in their countries – Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Hungary, Jamaica, Kenya, Russia, South Africa, and Tanzania. Supported by their teachers the young people shared their research, little known facts about “off the beaten track” sites and their suggestions for improvements of tourism while also including interactive games to involve the audience.

In addition to the opportunity to represent their country, students met with peers from around the globe, experienced different cultures, benefitted from the facilities of Amadeus’ high-tech customer briefing centre and were also given a tour of a world class hotel where they learned first-hand about work in travel and tourism.

Michel Taride, Chairman of the GTTPAdvisory Board and Group President, Hertz International commented, “It was very inspiring for all the attendees – students, teachers, directors and Partners alike – to see all these young people presenting a piece of their cultural heritage with pride and passion as part of professional case studies.

This unique event gives great confidence in terms of the future talent that will represent or even lead the Travel and Tourism industry and I am very proud of the work that GTTP does to support these brilliant students.”

The GTTP research competitions are devised to encourage the development of skills these young people will need in their careers, including critical thinking, team collaboration, research, writing and speaking. In addition, they are required to explore and reflect upon topics important to the long-term development of the travel and tourism industry, such as sustainability and technology.

This event supports GTTP’s mission to inspire and enable young people to build careers in Travel and Tourism and we are proud to know that over 2 million students have participated in GTTP programs around the world.

As a GTTP Board Member, I was inspired by the professionalism of these students. The huge effort that went into their research projects was apparent and their ability to delight the audience with facts, animation and humour – not easy when not in your native language – was equally inspiring.

Six of the projects focused on the history of indigenous people from Tanzania, Canada, Brazil, Jamaica, South Africa and Kenya. The blight of slavery and apartheid is an important reminder for current and future generations. The Jamaican message regarding that island’s ethnic mix “Out of many one people” is a timely reminder that we all have a rich genetic history, an important lesson in today’s world.

A quote from the Russian team perfectly summarises a year of preparation culminating in an enriching four day event in Nice, “each place has a story to tell.”

Reprinted with kind permission from the Amadeus Blog.

Future travel industry leaders shine at GTTP event in France

By Elizabeth Aston, Advisor, Industry Affairs, Amadeus IT Group (pictured)

Reprinted from the Amadeus blog with permission from Amadeus.

The future of the travel industry is in good hands if the recent Global Travel & Tourism Partnership (GTTP) conference held at the Amadeus research and development centre in Sophia Antipolis last month is an indicator of times to come.

Student teams from hundreds of schools competed to represent their countries at the conference, but only 22 students from 11 GTTP member countries were selected to present their research findings on ‘Sustainable Adventure Tourism’. The up and coming travel industry leaders were tasked with investigating whether adventure tourism has a strong attraction for visitors to their country, and what further sustainability actions should be adopted by the market, using local travel industry role models as case studies.

The students presented topics across a broad spectrum of sustainable adventure activities ranging from high tech outdoor activities in Hungary, to paragliding in Jamaica, to tropical rain forest bio-diversity activities in Kenya and to the Russian project “accessible cycling tours” based on real student needs at their college on the Volga River.

Students from Brazil (pictured above) presented an especially interesting project focused on the award winning Park of Dreams, which not only ticks the three pillars of sustainability, but goes beyond to include accessibility as a key differentiator. All the facilities, rooms, and adventure activities are fully adapted for accessibility, including the zip line and white-water rafting. Not only is all their food organic and grown on site with a full organic waste programme (including a worm farm!), they even recycle old materials for art on the walls and reuse old objects for new purposes e.g. an old door becomes a table!

As in previous years the high level of English language competency, the extensive research conducted, the presentation and animation skills and general humour of the students did not fail to impress.

The students always present each other with gifts from their home country and there was a very touching moment when one of the students from China presented all the attendees with hand-painted silk fans painted by her father, who is an artist.

For many of these students it was their first time travelling outside of their home country, but judging by the high quality of their work, their confidence and ambition, it certainly will not be the last time. With such clarity and vision we should feel comfortable that the future of travel is in good hands indeed.

The GTTP educates secondary and vocational school students about careers in travel and tourism in more than 5,600 schools around the world. As a GTTP Global Partner, Amadeus hosted the conference. Starwood Hotels & Resorts, another GTTP Global Partner, provided meals and hotel rooms at Le Méridien, Nice, while Delta Airlines donated air travel tickets for the students and teachers.

Students from around the world prove future is bright for travel industry at GTTP event

By: Elizabeth Aston, Senior Advisor, Industry Affairs, Amadeus IT Group

The GTTP annual student and teacher awards, which we hosted at the Amadeus Executive Briefing Centre in Sophia Antipolis, brought together gifted students from around the world to showcase their bright ideas to shape a sustainable future of travel.

Twenty-two high school students from 11 countries, including Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Russia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, shared their findings on applying technology in a sustainable way to enhance the visitor experience in their countries.

The winning projects were diverse, ranging from a case study from Olympia Brazil based on devising a simple clean renewable energy system to support local sustainable tourism development, to Kitale Kenya which focused on how the MPesa mobile payment system is revolutionising the entire tourism industry by providing a secure and cashless system, and is helping to boost the economy.

The winning Chinese project, which focused on smart technology being used in new sustainable hotels in Qingdao, underscored the ingenuity that is currently revolutionising this sector. Another impressive entry was from Sarvar in Hungary, where the winners illustrated in real time the simplicity and power of using QR code generator technology to simplify entrance processes with clear sustainable advantages for the travel industry.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the event was the poise and confidence with which these teenagers presented their projects, despite the fact that for most of them English is not their first language and many have never travelled abroad before nor presented to a large audience. For the students and teachers, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be selected to represent their country and travel to Nice to take part in this prestigious event.

Feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive. A student from Hong Kong commented that “it has been a precious learning and development opportunity,” while a Jamaican teacher said “Thank you for educating students about making better life changing choices” and their student remarked that “dreams do really come true.”

A Kenyan teacher and student said: “Thank you for everything. It is inspiring and impacts greatly my future as a tourism teacher” and “I will use this as an opportunity to achieve greater things.” Finally, a school principal said “I really want to assure you that you have made a huge difference to the lives of all of us.”

To wrap up the event – there was a gala dinner at the Le Meridien and everyone had a fabulous time, especially the students, who performed with great gusto when asked to spontaneously deliver a national song or dance, showing that they were even more talented than already proven!

Amadeus has been an inaugural partner of the GTTP since 1999, and other international industry leaders supporting the GTTP include American Express, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Delta Air Lines, Enterprise Holdings, The Hertz Corporation, Hogg Robinson Group, KDS, Lufthansa, Starwood Hotel & Resorts, and Travelport, all of whom have executives serving on the GTTP’s Advisory Board.

There is potential for many of these students to rise to the top of our industry and become future leaders and who knows, perhaps one day some of them may even sit on the board of GTTP.

Head over to the GTTP website for more on this charitable foundation and have a look at their Facebook page for great pictures from the event.

This article was originally published on the Amadeus corporate blog.