Advanced/Advanced Subsidiary GCE in Travel and Tourism

Advanced/Advanced Subsidiary GCE in Travel and Tourism

Entry Requirements
There are no specific entry requirements for this course.

About the Course

This is a qualification which involves a wide range of AS and A2 units. It involves a variety of work-related themes and assessment methods. All Travel and Tourism qualifications aim to give students a broad knowledge and understanding of the tourism industry and prepare students for Higher Education or the world of work.

The AS award is a three unit qualification and includes a unit introducing Travel and Tourism which is externally assessed by the exam board. You will find out in this unit about how the Tourism Industry is the fastest growing industry in the world, and the reasons behind the rapid development in this area. You will also learn about how tourism affects the economy at home here in the UK.

The second AS unit involves Customer Service in Travel and Tourism. Here you will learn about why customers are the most important part of the Travel and Tourism industry, and the standards of service they should expect. This unit will be assessed by assignment work marked in the College and moderated by the exam board. The third unit, Tourism and Travel Destinations, will also be assessed this way. In this unit you will examine the major features of short and long haul destinations for UK tourists.

Progression onto the six unit Advanced Level qualification will mean a further three units of study at Advanced Level, which again includes one unit examined externally and two further assignment units. Units studied here include Tourism Development (the externally examined unit) and Event Management. The final unit is an optional unit, which can be chosen from the Guided Tour, Ecotourism, Adventure Tourism and Cultural Tourism.

In the Tourism Development unit you will learn about the organisations involved in Tourism Development and the negative and positive impacts of Tourism Development both in the UK and overseas. You will apply problem-solving skills to different case studies of Tourism Development. There will be a one and a half hour exam at the end of this unit assessed by the exam board.

Event Management gives you the chance to work as part of a team to plan, carry out and evaluate a real Travel and Tourism project that is of interest to you. Students will need to produce a business plan for the project before it takes place, and then keep a log of their involvement in the project whilst it is in progress. After the event you will need to produce an evaluation to discover what went well and what could have worked better.

There will also be the opportunity for students to go on Work Experience in a Travel and Tourism related setting to find out how Travel and Tourism businesses operate in the real world.

As you would expect from a qualification of this nature there will be a lot of discussion and group work, and the chance to go on Tourism related visits during the course. There may be the chance for a trip abroad during the two year course as well as participation in the event for the Event Management unit and Students Guided Tours of local attractions.