Tourism Waitaki scholarship at Aoraki Polytechnic

Tourism Waitaki scholarship at Aoraki Polytechnic

Young people wanting to get into tourism are being urged to get creative to win a scholarship and kick start their career.

Aoraki Polytechnic has joined with the Waitaki Tourism Association and Tourism Waitaki to offer a unique scholarship and internship opportunity.

The successful recipient will receive $2000 towards their tuition fees and a two-month internship with Tourism Waitaki.

To win the scholarship students must be intending to enrol in the polytechnic’s Certificate in International Tourism, level 4, in 2015.

They have to make a two-minute video about ‘Tourism as a Career’ featuring themselves and including why they are applying for the scholarship and why it should be awarded to them.

Polytechnic portfolio manager for business and IT Anna Nichol said the Waitaki Tourism and Internship Scholarship is an approach to up-skill and develop young individuals to boost tourism even more in the Waitaki region.

“Tourism is a catalyst for sustaining growth in our economy so we need to ensure we have enough skilled individuals to match this growth. We are excited to be working with some key organisations in the Waitaki District to make this possible.”

The scholarship winner will also receive two months, full-time, paid work placement with Tourism Waitaki.

Tourism Waitaki marketing manager Ian Elliott said the scholarship draws attention to the importance of tourism to the Waitaki District economy. It also endorses the important role of the polytechnic in providing quality tourism education, he said.

“Tourism Waitaki looks forward to providing an internship for the successful scholarship recipient. It is our belief that the scholarship will benefit the tourism industry as well as the student embarking on their tourism career.”

Waitaki Tourism Association chairman Ralph Davies said the scholarship gets back to the core of why tourism is important to the district’s economy as it provides job and dreams for those entering the workplace.

“If we can kick-start more interest in our local tourism industry then we are heading in the right direction. This will undoubtedly also foster a greater opportunity to work with the local secondary schools and we are delighted with the enthusiasm our partners, Tourism Waitaki and Aoraki Polytechnic, have shown in embracing the Scholarship.”

The scholarship is open to those aged 17 to 25 who live in the Waitaki district and would love to study international tourism at Aoraki Polytechnic.

The student’s video must be filmed in the Waitaki district and at some point feature the Certificate in International Tourism.

Students need to submit their video, along with enrolment and application forms to the Oamaru i-SITE or Aoraki’s Oamaru campus by November 30.

The winner will be announced no later than December 20.

ENDS

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