London, UK: The Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP), the industry supported not-for-profit educational organisation, today announces their global curriculum, Passport to the World, is now endorsed by the Institute of Travel and Tourism, the UK’s leading membership body for the travel and tourism industry. Approximately 495,000 students around the world currently study the GTTP curriculum from countries including the UK, Ireland, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Hungary, Jamaica, Russia and South Africa.

Passport to the World provides students with an introduction to the basic structure of the global travel and tourism sector. Through individual and group research, students learn about the different types of travel companies, customer segments present in the sector and explore topics such as customer service, destination marketing and government policy. Students must complete a portfolio of work that demonstrates their understanding and knowledge before being awarded a certificate that marks their successful completion of the course.

The ITT’s endorsement of the global curriculum will help to further GTTP’s work in other countries such as Kenya, Nicaragua and Bulgaria, where new programmes are currently in their pilot stages.

Ian Wheeler, Chairman of the GTTP Advisory Board and Vice President, Marketing, Amadeus IT Group, said: “ITT’s endorsement demonstrates the credibility and integrity of the curriculum developed by the GTTP. What we are seeing is an increase in the number of companies and groups across the sector willing to collaborate to improve educational standards. The Passport to the World curriculum is not only doing that today but it is also instrumental in fostering the future talent so important for the industry’s development.”

Steven Freudmann, Chairman of ITT, said: “One of the objectives of the ITT is to improve student education and training. Passport to the World is taught by well-trained professionals that offer a thorough grounding in all aspects of travel and tourism. We have endorsed the curriculum because we believe it is aligned to the needs of industry which is essential if we are to attract people with the right skills and knowledge into what is one of the world’s biggest industries.”

Dr Nancy Needham, Executive Director of GTTP and President of Global Initiatives, said: “At the moment demand for GTTP’s educational programmes is outstripping supply. Endorsement from the ITT is important as it validates what we are doing with Passport to the World and it also helps us to build upon the programme in new countries.”

Essie Gardner, GTTP country director for Jamaica, said: “Tourism is the lifeblood of the Jamaican economy. It is vital that we develop local talent to support the industry which is why an internationally-recognised curriculum is so important. It enables students to improve their skills and we hope that many of them will go on to use those skills within the tourism industry both in Jamaica and beyond.”

More information on GTTP can be found at www.gttp.org.