Tourism career tip: Get your New Zealand driver licence

Many airline, travel and tourism employers require their staff to have at least a restricted driver licence.

Many of our students are surprised to learn that no matter how good their grades, one important skill can significantly impact their chances of getting a great job: their ability to drive.

Holding a full New Zealand driver licence is a huge advantage if you’re interested in working in the airline, travel or tourism industry. For some employers, it’s non-negotiable; they won’t hire you unless you have your licence.

ITC Account Manager Ceri Jenkins advertises jobs to students from top industry employers. Often holding a driver licence is a requirement – even for jobs you wouldn’t expect driving to play a part.

“About 25 per cent of all jobs I advertise require people to have a restricted or full licence,” says Ceri.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #32

In this week’s NZ airline, travel and tourism news, Air New Zealand has been named as one of the world’s safest airlines and we take a look at Kiwi travel habits heading into 2016.

TOP STORIES

Air New Zealand makes list of 20 safest airlines for 2016

2015 was an impressive year for Air New Zealand, which received many awards and accolades. The airline looks set to continue its success heading into 2016 – mere days into the new year, Air New Zealand has been named as one of the top 20 safest airlines in the world by AirlineRatings.com.

This independent website provides safety ratings for over 400 air carriers and compiles a list of the safest airlines every year. Qantas was ranked number one for the third year in a row, while the rest of the top 20 was listed in alphabetical order.

Other airlines to make the list include Emirates, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia.

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Get 2016 off to a great start with a course in travel and tourism

New Zealand’s tourism industry is expected to grow exponentially in 2016. A qualification from ITC can help you pursue this exciting career path.

On behalf of everyone at the International Travel College of New Zealand (ITC), Happy New Year! We hope you enjoyed a lovely Christmas break.

Now that 2016 is underway, it’s a great time to start thinking about your goals for the year ahead. If you’ve been thinking about pursuing a career in airline, travel or tourism, it’s not too early to start working towards this dream.

ITC has classes starting as early as January 11 – that’s less than a week from now! Even if you’re not ready to enrol on this date, you could still arrange to come into the college for a chat. Every day our friendly course advisers meet with prospective students and chat to them about their interests and ambitions. It’s their job to provide students with advice about which course might best suit their needs.

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The best of 2015

From the Amazing Race to Graduation and everything in between, it’s been a great year at ITC.

As another year comes to an end, we thought we’d take this opportunity to look back at some highlights from the past 12 months.

2015 has been an incredible year for the industry, and at ITC we’ve had many excited, motivated students pass through these halls, ready to embark on a fantastic career in airline, travel or tourism.

With so many students achieving amazing goals – from moving to Disney World or securing their dream job – it was hard to narrow down our top ten stories of the year. But after much consideration, we think the following stories deserve one last mention before we look ahead to 2016.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #31

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, luxury tourism spend is on the rise and Air New Zealand launches a new initiative to benefit school children.

TOP STORIES

NZ Luxury Lodge data confirms strong sector growth

According to new data from members of Luxury Lodges of New Zealand, spending on luxury accommodation increased between April and September of this year.

Director of Trade, PR and Major Events at Tourism New Zealand, Rene de Monchy, said it was great to see the luxury sector was performing well.

“Seeing such strong growth in the industry over winter is absolutely fantastic and proof that the sector is progressing as strongly as we thought,” Mr de Monchy said.

He added that targeting luxury travellers has been a key focus for Tourism New Zealand this year.

“The results follow significant work from our premium sector team… Since 1 July the premium team have attended six major international trade events, hosted six famils and four media files in New Zealand, and we have a full calendar of activity planned for the coming six months.”

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ITC donates $5,000 to Auckland City Mission

Auckland City Mission Fundraising Team Leader Alexis Sawyers is pictured with ITC Directors Claire Huxley and Kerry Priestley. ITC generously donated $5,000 to the Mission’s 2015 Christmas Appeal.

The International Travel College of New Zealand (ITC) is lending a hand to those in need this festive season.

Instead of enjoying a large staff Christmas party, employees at the college voted to donate $5,000 to the Auckland City Mission – a generous show of support for deserving families in the local community.

“We asked the ITC team if they would prefer to have a big Christmas do or if they wanted to donate the money we’d usually spend to charity and have a smaller celebration,” says ITC Marketing Director Claire Huxley.

“We’re proud to say 98 per cent of the team voted for a smaller Christmas party, which allowed us to make a sizeable donation to the Auckland City Mission.”

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #30

Welcome to the 30th edition of the ITC Industry News Bulletin! In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, NZ’s top 10 Instagrammed locations are named, a new report shines a light on the current state of the industry and much more.

TOP STORIES

New Zealand’s ten most Instagrammed locations revealed

Waiheke Island is New Zealand’s ‘most Instagrammed’ location, it was revealed earlier this week. The popular holiday destination secured the top spot ahead of several other beautiful places – see the full list below.

1. Waiheke Island
2. Mount Maunganui
3. Hobbiton Movie Set
4. Sky Tower
5. Takapuna Beach
6. Lake Tekapo
7. Piha Beach
8. Wanaka Lakefront
9. Museum of Te Papa Tongarewa
10. Skyline Queenstown

The list was compiled based on how many pictures were geo-tagged in each location.

Director of marketing at Tourism New Zealand, Andrew Fraser, told The Bay of Plenty Times that there has been an increase of activity on Instagram recently.

“We can see through the growth of the @PureNewZealand Instagram account and the popularity of the #NZMustDo campaign that both visitors and New Zealanders alike are turning to Instagram to share their New Zealand experiences,” Mr Fraser said.

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ITC graduate gets her ‘Disney Ears’

Taryn Brown, a former ITC student, recently graduated from the Disney World Cultural Exchange Program.

Exactly 8 months ago to the day, ITC graduate Taryn Brown received the good news that she was off to Disney World for the work experience trip of a lifetime.

Participating in the Disney Cultural Exchange Program has been a goal of Taryn’s since she started studying tourism at ITC. After much hard work and determination, in August she found herself on a plane to Orlando – her dream was coming true.

Now, many new friends and amazing memories later, Taryn has graduated from the program and received her ‘Disney Ears’.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #29

This week’s top news stories from the airline, travel and tourism industry.

TOP STORIES

Air New Zealand named Airline of the Year for third year running

New Zealand’s national airline has once again been recognised for world-class excellence. Air New Zealand has been named Airline of the Year by AirlineRatings.com for the third year in a row.

AirlineRatings.com is a website which rates and reviews aviation products and safety systems. Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas believes Air New Zealand’s commitment to its staff is one reason why the airline continues to outperform competitors.

“Air New Zealand’s focus on its staff has resulted in outstanding performance right across the airline at every touch point and the airline’s innovation continues to impress, including the recently launched tracking of unaccompanied children,” says Mr Thomas.

“Given Air New Zealand’s location and the country size, its performance is stunning,” he added.

Over 430 airlines were rated by AirlineRatings.com as part of the judging process.

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ITC students meet industry leaders at Tourism New Zealand Roadshow

ITC Level 5 students are pictured with Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler at the recent Tourism New Zealand Roadshow, held at SKYCITY Hotel and Convention Centre.

A selection of tourism students from the International Travel College (ITC) recently attended the Tourism New Zealand Roadshow in Auckland, where they had the good fortune to mingle with several industry leaders.

Held at the SKYCITY Hotel and Convention Centre, the Roadshow included updates from Tourism New Zealand, Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), Service IQ and more.

ITC tutor Inder Singh took some of his Level 5 students to the event so they could benefit from the knowledge and expertise of top industry professionals.

“The Tourism New Zealand Auckland Roadshow was an excellent opportunity for students to hear first-hand about the Tourism 2025 goals,” says Inder.

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