During week commencing 8th February 2016, Hugh Baird College is joining other further education colleges from across the region to inspire secondary school students to consider the visitor economy as a career choice.
Driven by the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, ‘Visitor Economy Week’ will see more than fifty activities taking place, providing a taste of what life can be like working in hospitality, retail, tourism and travel.
Hugh Baird College will begin the week with a ‘Blues versus Reds’ cook off at the L20 Hotel School kitchens. Students will have the chance to represent Everton or Liverpool, cooking in teams with chefs from both football clubs acting as mentors throughout the day.
On Wednesday, 10th February, there’ll be three activities hosted by Hugh Baird College. A Question and Answer session with Principal Marketing Officer at Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council Tourism Department, Steve Christian will be followed by a visit to National Museums Liverpool.
The College have also arranged for school pupils to join Tony Rimmer and his team at Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club. Tony is the Head Greens’ Keeper at the championship golf course and will give visitors the chance to ‘work a day in the life of a greens’ keeper’.
Also on 10th February, Hugh Baird College’s long-standing partner Joe Black’s Coffee will partner L20 Hotel School students taking part in a day of coffee art and specialist coffee making.
Thursday, 11th sees renowned chef, Steven Burgess, return to the kitchens at the L20 Restaurant for their latest Guest Chef Evening. Chef Burgess is one of the co-founders of unique restaurant, bar and music venue, Camp and Furnace and runs exclusive catering firm, Rhubarb and Custard. He’ll be putting the L20 Hotel School students through their paces as part of his brigade and giving school pupils the chance to join them.
All 11-19 year olds interested in exploring a career in hospitality, travel, tourism or the retail sector are being encouraged to sign up to any of the activities throughout Visitor Economy week by registering on the website at www.visitoreconomyweek.co.uk.
Hugh Baird College will round off the week of activities with their Open Evening, from 5pm until 8pm on Thursday, 11th February, when visitors will have an opportunity to find out more about all of the courses on offer, take a look around our facilities and chat to tutors.
The Visitor Economy Week initiative is the first in a series of events that will be staged over the next 12 months to help promote the visitor economy as a viable career choice, and raise the profile of the sector. A key aspect will be engaging with secondary schools and helping those students identify vocational training opportunities that exist outside of the sixth form.
Peter Sandman, Head of Visitor Economy at Liverpool City Region LEP, said:
“With the visitor economy now worth over £3.8bn annually, the number of jobs in the sector has significantly increased and demand for the skills being showcased during this week is high. This is a great opportunity for students to sample new courses and discover potential career options.”