Print version Recommend this page Press release
13/ 2005
Bonn, 23.03.2005
Improvements en route: with the new regulated occupation "Tourism and Leisure Agent" (m/f) the tourism sector is being further professionalized
Tourism and leisure are more than just sources of relaxation - they also provide diverse new employment opportunities! The new regulated training occupation "Tourism and Leisure Agent" (m/f), for which vocational education and training will be available as of August 2005, is being introduced with the aim to fully exploit this existing potential for jobs and training places while helping the tourist industry to develop (further) by providing it with qualified, skilled employees.
With the new occupation
- local and regional tourism bodies, such as tourism authorities and associations;
- regional tourism federations or tourism marketing organizations;
- health resort, swimming, and wellness companies;
- recreational and adventure parks;
- holiday facilities and parks;
- camping sites;
- maritime tourism enterprises (marinas);
- tourism-oriented transportation companie and
- travel organizers and tour operators
will all have the opportunity to provide tailored vocational education and training that is ori-ented towards their own specific needs. The focus will be on the tourist and leisure opportu-nities specific to the region in which the training takes place. The assignment of the tourism and leisure agents will be to heighten awareness of these regional offerings and improve and further develop them in terms of quality. Through the efforts of these agents, the region's ability to attract visitors will be enhanced, thereby contributing to an increase in the numbers of incoming tourists.
The three-year course of vocational education and training will impart business, technical, social, and customer-oriented skills to the trainees, as well as knowledge about the site in question and about the region in which and for which the tourism specialists are being trained. Vocational education and training will take place on site in all fields associated with modern tourist and leisure facilities, and involve direct customer contact. It will encompass individu-alized customer communication, the counselling of and caring for guests, along with event organization, marketing, general administrative activities. The topics of human resources management and accounting will also be included.
The recognised training occupation "Tourism and Leisure Agent" (m/f) complements the clas-sic tourism occupation "Travel Agent" (m/f), by bringing in segments of the tourist and lei-sure industry which were not taken into account in the past. Until now a component in the training of travel agents, the training contents in the area "health resort and tourist offices" have been detached from the classic occupation profile and integrated into the new occupation. The vocational education and training of travel agents will continue, although in modified form.
A BIBB (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training) preliminary study on skills development in the tourism field (Vorstudie zur Qualifikationsentwicklung im Tou-rismusbereich) was conducted prior to the development of the new occupation profile and the modification of the already existing occupation. The study was designed to shed light on present conditions in the tourism and leisure sector and developments in that area. One of its objectives was to identify the training and employment opportunities of an additional occupa-tion for the tourism and leisure sector, as well as the future requirements of such an occupation. The study also aimed at detecting possible areas of overlap between such an occupation and that of "Travel Agent" (m/f) and, if appropriate, to modify the contents of the latter.
The findings of the study Vorstudie zur Qualifikationsentwicklung im Tourismus have been published in the German language as a BIBB "Wissenschaftliches Diskussionspapier," and can be downloaded in pdf format from the Internet at www.bibb.de/de/5720.htm.
Additional information on the occupations in the tourism sector is available at the BIBB from Bettina Trappmann-Webers, tel.: (0228) 107-2420, e-mail: trappmann-webers@bibb.de; or Birgit Sell, tel.: (0228) 107-2524, e-mail: sell@bibb.de.
