A tourism and hospitality education seminar was held in Strathspey this week for teachers in the Highlands and Islands where they were introduced to new resources and ideas to bring back to the classroom.

Organised by Careers Scotland and Springboard Scotland, the seminar was held at the Cairngorm Mountain base station on Tuesday.

Those who attended the seminar included teachers with responsibility for geography, language, modern studies, travel and tourism as well as home economics, coming from as far a field as Ardnamurchan and Kinlochbervie as well as Inverness, Morayshire and Wick.

Bob Kinnaird, chief executive of Cairngorm Mountain Ltd welcomed the teachers and gave an enthusiastic presentation with a fascinating insight of the economic and environmental responsibilities involved in running such a company within the tourism market.  

This was followed by an ice-breaker and a team-building challenge from Dale Simpson, HR manager for the Thistle Hotels in Inverness and Aberdeen. He spoke about the importance of good leadership among staff and the teachers even got to try some hands-on exercises.

A Dragon's Den' type innovation session provided the teachers with the opportunity to sell their tourism idea to a team of 'dragons'.  This type of activity could be brought back to the classroom and highlight to pupils some of the business skills needed in the industry. 

Mike Dunthorne, director of outdoor activity company, Boots 'n' Paddles provided an activity session consisting of problem solving, communications and core skills linking into the curriculum.

Careers Scotland and Excellence in Education through Business Links (EEBL) provided the teachers with information on how they can gain experience from participation on work placements that relate to tourism and hospitality.  The knowledge and skills that they learn can be put to practise with the pupils in the classroom.

Jenny Macrae, co-ordinator of the EEBL programme in the Highlands and Islands, said:  "This seminar gave the representatives from various tourism and hospitality organisations a chance to explain their remit to the teachers and the careers available in the sector.  The teachers will have further contact with these businesses and organisations through their attendance on related work placements later this year, when they can bring more experience back to the classroom for pupils to think about tourism and hospitality in their chosen career.  The seminar and placements gives the teachers the opportunity to take back real life examples of career related learning such as shown on the day, back to the classroom."

Mary Hemsworth, project manager with Springboard Scotland said:  "This was an excellent opportunity for teachers to explore the skills needed to work in Scotland's largest industry.  For too long working in tourism and hospitality has been regarded as a stop-gap job with no real career prospects.  Days like this highlight the breadth of career opportunities available to our young people. 

"The teachers who attended the skills awareness day really interacted with the speakers, taking a number of ideas away with them, which hopefully will result in an increased interest in the subject at curriculum level.  In order to sustain our tourism and hospitality industry and the economic benefits it brings to the Highlands and Islands we must continue to educate not just our potential future recruits but also key influencers - days like this go a long way towards achieve that aim. "