HONG Thai Travel Service Hong Kong is working with Hong Kong Baptist University’s School of Continuing Education (SCE) to offer industry input for the university’s new diploma in Travel Agency Service, a rare course in the country.
The travel agency’s general manager, Jason Wong, said: “This is a specialised course focusing on agency operations, which is not common in the market. Target audience also includes the travel trade, particularly those who rose from the frontline to management level without higher academic qualifications.”
Wong explained: “We advise SCE on programme design and content structure…Veteran travel experts will be invited to share their experience in classes.”
The school will accept up to 20 students for the first 200-hour course, with fees at HK$18,000 (US$2,321).
The dearth of manpower in the travel and tourism industry has given rise to a number of courses in Hong Kong, including the vocational degrees offered by Vocational Training Council’s (VTC) Technological & Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong. It offers bachelor’s degrees in Chinese Culinary Arts and Management, as well as Hotel Operations Management (September) and Public Relations (2015) programmes.
Plans to bring VTC’s popular Professional Butlers Training Programme – taught by professionals including Patricia Paskins, who trained butlers at the UK’s Buckingham Palace – overseas are also in the pipeline.
