Categories: News

Travel company launches NZQA accredited qualification

&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;" alignright size-full wp-image-1617" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;schoolnewsnz&period;fastrackdev&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;SND17-wk4-House&lowbar;of&lowbar;Travel&period;JPG" alt&equals;"SND17-wk4-House of Travel" style&equals;"margin&colon; 5px&semi; float&colon; right&semi;" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"200" &sol;>Kiwi-owned travel company&comma; House of Travel&comma; which employs more than 850 people throughout the country&comma; is offering a nationally accredited qualification gained via on-the-job training to graduates&period; <&excl;--more--> <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The company&&num;8217&semi;s ability to train staff on the job to the highest level will enable the trainees to earn their qualifications while working in the organisation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Stephen Parsons&comma; owner-operator of House of Travel in Palmerston North&comma; says the new accreditation will allow teams within House of Travel to take on young people with the right skill set and help them learn the trade from within&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We can identify talented people and fast-track their career&comma; while also ensuring we get fresh ideas from new generations that will help future proof the industry&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Mr Parsons says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The scheme will see inductees working toward a National Certificate in Travel Level 4 over a 12 to 24-month period&comma; an NZQA accredited qualification paid for by the company&comma; while employed by the travel company&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Learning and development manager northern&comma; Pania Burgess&comma; says the ability to offer the qualification in-house is a huge step forward in offering development <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;developing-opportunities-at-school-with-a-view&sol;" title&equals;"opportunities" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">opportunities<&sol;a> to staff&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;It also demonstrates how serious House of Travel is about not just looking professional&comma; but truly being professional&period; We see real value in giving younger people the opportunity to join the industry in a much more practical way than ever before&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Ms Burgess says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Parsons has recruited the first inductee to the programme&comma; 18-year-old Joanna Dargie&comma; who has come straight from high school to join the team and learn the travel business from within while gaining a recognised qualification&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We&&num;8217&semi;ll be training Joanna in the technical side of things&comma; such as how to use the up-to-date technology we have in the office and how to process a sale&comma; as well as teaching her how to deal with customers on an everyday basis&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;I have no doubt that after she gains this qualification through working for a couple of years in our office&comma; she&&num;8217&semi;ll be a top seller&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;She is also younger and knows a lot about the online world&comma; so she&&num;8217&semi;s able to look at aspects of the business such as social media which are crucial for the industry to embrace heading into the future&period; That&&num;8217&semi;s a real asset to any business&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Customers can also be assured they will get the best-quality service with someone who is trained to the highest industry standard and knows the systems inside out after completing the training&comma; Mr Parsons says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Photo courtesy Manawatu Standard<&sol;p><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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Rosie Clarke

Rosie is the managing editor here at Multimedia Pty Ltd, working across School News New Zealand and School News Australia. She has spent 10+ years in B2B journalism, and has spent some time over the last couple of years teaching as a sessional academic. Feel free to contact her at any time with editorial or magazine content enquiries.

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