By Matt Stenton, Director GTTP New Zealand
Kia ora from New Zealand! The latest country to join the GTTP. The first ever edition of this newsletter is proudly brought to you by Matt Stenton, one of GTTP’s newest directors. In my day-to-day life, I am the Programme Director for a government-funded initiative known as ‘Go with Tourism’, which launched in 2019 to build New Zealand’s tourism workforce. Education was always an important element of our programme, but it will almost become our sole focus over the next few months. Of course, GTTP’s Passport to the World course will play a big role.
When New Zealand entered lockdown on 25 March 2020, many people were beginning to lose their jobs. Since this date, the education section on our website is our fourth most visited page! Additionally, we’ve had close to 1000 people view the Passport to the World webpage on our site.
We know that New Zealand is on the bucket list for many people around the world. Therefore, tourism is still a crucial industry to be invested in; and now, more than ever, stimulating an interest in tourism education is a vital part of rebuilding our industry. As the New Zealand Director for GTTP, you can count on me to do my part.
Go with Tourism 2020
Let me tell you what we have planned so far: Prior to COVID-19 we were working on delivering a national GTTP training programme for secondary school teachers and tertiary educators; now we’re working with the US Embassy to take it online.
The Go with Tourism Education Programme will see our regional coordinators visit schools to conduct sessions on tourism careers with the students there, You can count on us promoting Passport to the World in these sessions.
The Go with Tourism Expos will take place in four major cities this August and September and again, we will be actively promoting the Passport to the World course at these events.
Hero Story
Go with Tourism’s Intern turned Project Coordinator Leticia Smith, shares her experience with the passport to the world program:
“I see real value in the Passport to the World course being offered as an introduction to the industry, especially for those who are new to tourism or for those who may be thinking of studying tourism further. I felt that there were a couple of people from my class who struggled, who would have benefited from taking this course. Our first assessment was about the ‘State of Tourism in New Zealand’ and I think this would have been a perfect segue.” To hear more from Leticia – Read More
Now lets hear from from Anne:
”I am delighted to welcome New Zealand on board with GTTP. With Matt’s energy and drive and a vision for how tourism will develop under the Go With Tourism banner, I feel very confident that new ways will be found to attract visitors your beautiful country. Well done too on the fantastic achievement of having nearly 1000 people access the Passport course. What a great start. Welcome New Zealand to the GTTP family.”
