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Community College of Rhode Island
Careers take flight with travel & tourism program
Spectacular Caribbean sunsets. Gleaming Alaskan glaciers. Trendy Parisian boutiques. Sumptuous Carnivale celebrations. These dazzling dreams of traveling the world appeal to millions and result in the exchange of trillions of dollars each year.
What about the sights and sounds of Waterfire, the Broadway performances at Providence Performing Arts Center, the Newport Yachting Center, South County’s beaches, the Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor, Bristol’s Blithewold Mansion or Block Island’s bluffs?
Rhode Island has a booming tourism industry, and the industry supports the jobs of 68,000 individuals. CCRI’s Administrative Office Technology Department offers a part-time, 34-credit Travel and Tourism Certificate program designed to familiarize students with the operations unique to travel-related business and to prepare them for positions in this growing field of travel and tourism.
“Though many associate ‘travel and tourism’ with working for a travel agency, an airline or a cruise line,” says Heather Singleton, vice president of operations at the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association (RIHTA) and one of the industry professionals teaching in CCRI’s program, “there are many more options available to those interested in establishing themselves in the industry.”
Demand for bilingual employees highly skilled in both English and a foreign language such as Spanish is especially strong, as it is in many other types of businesses. The reach of the industry extends to include restaurants, hotels, museums, theaters, transportation services, publishing companies, meeting planning services, and all the support services that help those businesses to run.
For this reason, many of the CCRI program’s students are adult returning students who are interested in changing the track of their careers. An accountant, for example, might want to combine her professional training with her zest for travel and go to work managing the business end of a hotel. Or a journalist may get the urge to take his scope beyond hometown news and write for Condé Nast Traveler or another industry-leading publication.
“It is important to recognize,” says Terry Squizzero, department chair of Administrative Office Technology, “that travel and tourism opportunities are just as prevalent in businesses servicing those who come to visit our state as in travel planning.”
In fact, while Rhode Island has a population of just over one million people, 16 million visited the Ocean State last year. According to VisitRhodeIsland.com, the Web site of the Rhode Island Tourism Division, tourism is Rhode Island’s second-largest and fastest growing industry. Rhode Island is home to hundreds of businesses that thrive on the money brought into the state by tourists.
The CCRI program includes classes such as Destination Geography, Conference and Convention Planning, and Travel Agency Operation and Administration. Soon the college will add components such as Human Resource Management and Lodging Management to create a new sub-set of courses called the Hospitality Management Option. Courses currently offered will be grouped into a Travel Management Option. All students have the opportunity to complete internship hours for credit or to choose a career development seminar.
There is opportunity in the traditional sense of working for a travel agency as well. Though Internet bookings have made travel increasingly affordable and accessible, many travelers are still quick to seek the advice of a travel professional, especially on higher-priced trips, so the Travel Management Option within the CCRI program offers students the formal training and internship experience needed to sit for the licensing exam required by the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation for travel agents. Squizzero says that she recommends students work in an entry-level capacity for an agency for about a year before seeking work as an independent agent.
Singleton says that the CCRI program is a bridge for those seeking a career change, and a window into the industry for those unsure of how deep their interest runs. “Some will come to the introductory class just hoping to learn to plan their family vacations more effectively,” she says. “They end up discovering that hospitality and tourism encompass much more than they ever thought, and they might even learn a bit about their own state.”
(Rhode Island’s First Lady Suzanne Carcieri was recently recognized by RIHTA, says Singleton, for her innovative tourism campaign, focusing on showcasing the best of Rhode Island for its own citizens.)
“The certificate offering at CCRI provides an important, cost-effective opportunity to explore the industry, to get a sense of what its workings are, and to then decide whether to pursue further education in hospitality or tourism management,” says Singleton.
Once a student has completed the Travel & Tourism certificate, says Squizzero, there are several options to choose from. Many students come already prepared with a bachelor’s degree in another subject area, and may find that they are fully prepared to begin pursuit of their new field. Secondly, credits earned as part of this curriculum can be applied to an Associate in General Studies degree at CCRI. Thirdly, most credits transfer through an articulation agreement with Johnson & Wales University, a hospitality and tourism education leader, toward the pursuit of an associate or bachelor’s degree.
