Chamber director shares travel industry experiences with students

Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce’s international director Mandy Haque shared her insights from nearly three decades in the travel and aviation industry with Travel and Tourism students at BMet College.

Mandy spoke to around 50 students on the Level 3 Travel and Tourism course at BMet’s Sutton Coldfield College campus.

The 16-19 year-olds heard about Mandy’s experiences, including a lengthy spell at Birmingham Airport where she held a number of roles from terminal duty manager to head of operational service delivery.

John Garside, Travel and Tourism lecturer at BMet, said: “For our students aged between 16-19 this was so inspiring to hear this direct from Mandy in such an engaging and illuminating way. 

“Mandy began by talking about her role working at a local hotel and the experience this had in developing her customer skills.  This was a fabulous starting point as many of our learners were able to immediately relate to this from their current part-time job.

“As well as outlining her pathway and potential career options in each session Mandy focused on key employability skills – communications, leadership, critical thinking, problem solving, initiative, time management, teamwork and collaboration. 

“These are key areas as we develop the next generation of emerging talent for our industry and it is so important and critical to students development.”

Mandy said: “It was a pleasure to spend time speaking with the Travel and Tourism students on opportunities for careers in the travel industry.

“I was glad to share some further thoughts on roles they may not have considered or been aware exist in the sector.

“The West Midlands visitor economy contributed £14billion to the overall regional economy in 2022.

“It is always a delight to share some of my own experiences with the students in helping to shape their future careers.”

Meanwhile, the second year  Level 3 Travel and Tourism (Extended Diploma in Travel & Tourism)  group at Sutton Coldfield College have been announced as the UK winners of the Global Travel and Tourism Partnership 2023 International Tourism Research Competition.

The class completed a collaborative project entitled ‘Building a Resilient Workforce for a Sustainable Future.’ 

The work centred on providing key recommendations to help ensure a sustainable talent pipeline for the future of Travel and Tourism at a local level.

Two members of the group (Izzy and Evie) will now attend the Student Travel Research Conference in Dubai in November, where they will present the group’s project to the directors and organisers along with national winners of the other member countries of the GTTP.    

They will also attend a careers event in Dubai.  

John Garside said: “This is a fantastic achievement for all the Year 2 Level 3 Travel and Tourism students and reflects their outstanding progress and development of skills on the course.   

“We could not be more proud of their accomplishments and recognise the key contribution this makes in enhancing their required industry skills.”