Home > News > March 2005 > 09-Mar-2005

New National Occupational Standards for the travel and tourism industry

People 1st, the Sector Skills Council for the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector, has published its National Occupational Standards (NOS) for the travel and tourism industry.

According to People 1st, the standards have been updated in consultation with the industry to reflect the considerable changes that have taken place since the last review five years ago. The standards prioritise sales and customer service, together with organisation and business planning skills.

"These standards, and the qualifications that will follow, really do represent an opportunity for employers in the travel and tourism industries to raise levels of professionalism,” said Brian Wisdom, CEO of People 1st. “That will mean that we can hang on to our best people, saving the cost and disruption of replacement, thereby delivering a better service to customers, which in turn should increase profitability."

The standards have been written for the head office and resort functions of leisure travel, guiding and tour operations, and for business travel. Specialist standards are also available for those working in tourist information services, where promotion of the local area comes high on the list of priorities.

People 1st say the standards will form the basis of forthcoming vocational qualifications such as ABTA's Accredited Travel Professional scheme. It’s expected that membership of the Accredited Travel Professional scheme will be available nationally from January 2006, with a pilot scheme starting in London in April 2005.

Ian Reynolds, Chief Executive of ABTA, commented: "The travel industry is witnessing dramatic change in the way its products are developed and distributed. In both the business and leisure sectors the emphasis is on the added value travel companies can bring. This, in turn, depends on the skills of their people. We welcome the new Occupational Standards and are confident that they will form a sound basis for the future vocational qualifications in our industry."

External link

For further information about People 1st, visit : www.people1st.co.uk

Please note: Training Reference is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites.

Training and development books

Discover books on a variety of training and development topics at the Training Reference Bookshop

Source suppliers

Visit the Training Reference Directory to view supplier details for a wide range of courses, products and services.

Sponsored links

Back to top