Be Inspired: Sam’s journey from shyness to confidence

Meet Samuel Pascoe, an ITC graduate with an inspiring story to share.

Welcome to a new feature on the ITC Blog called ‘Be Inspired’. Every few weeks, we will give you a ‘behind-the-scenes’ glimpse into the journey of an inspirational ITC student and share what it took for them to achieve their goals. Everyone climbs their own Everest, and these students hope to inspire others by sharing the truth of their journey to the summit.

Before Samuel Pascoe started studying at ITC, he was self-described as shy, quiet, and a little bit lost.

“I didn’t know where I was going career-wise or what I wanted to achieve,” says Sam.

He’d completed a Diploma in IT but felt he unfulfilled by that career path. He knew he wanted to learn more about the world, but he didn’t know the next best step.

Then the opportunity to study at ITC came up, and things started to fall into place.

“Thanks to studying at ITC, I now know where I want to go in the tourism industry and how I need to achieve these goals,” Sam explained.

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‘Tourism makes life more meaningful’ says ITC student

Meet Anthony, an ITC international student from Shanghai with incredible work ethic, big dreams, and a huge passion for New Zealand tourism.

As far as reasons to study tourism go, Bo WU (Anthony) has a pretty good one.

Anthony (who is an international student from Shanghai, China) says that “tourism makes life more meaningful”.

“Tourism can broaden the horizon of a person,” Anthony explains.

“A person who loves travelling and learns to travel will have a better world outlook when he encounters anything.”

Of course, we completely agree.

Below is the rest of Anthony’s story. In this interview, he tells us about his career history (tourism is his second career so far), as well as what inspired him to move to New Zealand from Shanghai. It’s full of wisdom, insight, and tips – we hope you enjoy it.

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The year in review: Highlights from 2018

ITC staff and students have had plenty to smile about in 2018.

Can you believe that 2018 is nearly over?!

It’s been a massive, wonderful year for ITC, with many student successes to celebrate. Here are some of our top stories from 2018.

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Work experience leads to tourism jobs for many ITC students

ITC arranges work experience opportunities for students at tourism businesses such as SkyJump (pictured).

When an ITC student goes on work experience, they could be meeting their future employer for the first time.

Many students who participate in work experience end up working for that employer later down the track – sometimes as soon as one week later.

For example, Brookglenn Olsen recently started a job at InterCity after doing work experience there in late November. She got a call one week after her work experience offering her a job. She’s now working part-time in the afternoons and will go full-time in January once she’s finished her qualification.

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ITC celebrates IATA success

ITC’s 2018 cohort of IATA students accept their certificates at a special on-campus lunch to celebrate their success.

This year, several ITC students sat down to complete a very challenging test: the IATA Foundation Course final exam.

The exam (like the entire IATA course) is intensive and demanding, but ITC is pleased to announce that 100% of its students passed – a great result considering the nature of the test. (more…)

“I work at the happiest place on earth” says ITC graduate

ITC graduate Benjamin Strickland is working at Disney World in Florida.

Imagine being able to wake up every morning and say “I work at the happiest place on earth”.

That’s a reality for ITC graduate Benjamin Strickland. He is working at Disney World in America as a Quick Service Food and Beverage Attendant. He’s stationed in the Pinocchio Village Haus in the Magic Kingdom.

“I work for one of the most well-known companies in the world and the location I work at is the happiest place on earth,” says Benjamin.

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ITC students dress up in colour to raise money for Kidscan

ITC students all dressed up to raise money for Kidscan.

Normally, the International Travel College of New Zealand (ITC) enforces a strict black and white dress code (to help students get into the habit of dressing professionally).

However, if you walked into the ITC City Campus on October 3, black was almost nowhere to be seen.

Everyone turned up to College in their brightest colours to raise money for Kidscan.

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Welcome back Laura: ITC graduate returns to pursue Disney dream

Laura Orsbourn hopes to work at Disney World after completing the New Zealand Diploma in Tourism Level 5.

After graduating with a Level 4 qualification seven years ago, Laura Orsbourn has returned to ITC to complete the New Zealand Diploma in Tourism Level 5.

Laura has spent the past seven years working in hotels, and is studying Level 5 to pursue her lifelong dream of working at Disney World.

“I have come back to ITC to apply for the Walt Disney Cultural Program 2020,” says Laura.

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Five tips for fast-tracking your tourism career

A great way to fast-track your tourism career is to treat every job like it’s your dream job.

If you’ve been reading the news lately, you’ll know it’s never been a better time to enter the tourism industry.

There are more job vacancies than applicants, tourism businesses are expanding, and international visitor numbers continue to rise.

Tourism is thriving, and that creates the perfect conditions for you to fast-track your tourism career and take advantage of opportunities that come your way.

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Educating more tourism superstars with Gateway resources

Students at the Air NZ Ramp Services Gateway Programme. ITC supplies the Gateway workbooks for this programme. 

At the International Travel College (ITC), we educate young people about tourism in a variety of ways — some of which might surprise you.

In addition to our on-campus and Study From Home qualifications, we also work closely with schools and education providers to make sure they have the resources they need to support the next generation of tourism workers.

For example, we provide Gateway workbooks to education providers. Students complete Gateway workbooks while on work experience in the tourism industry and gain NCEA Level 3 credits.

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