Students Show The ITC Attitude at Hawaiian Evening
ITC students Sian and Natalia helped out recently at the Hawaii tourism showcase evening at the Hilton’s Auckland hotel. The evening was part of the Aloha Down Under 2012 Roadshow.
ITC regularly arranges onsite work experience like this to give students a chance to see what working in the industry is really like.
Sian and Natalia said that it was a “wonderful opportunity, which not only broadened our knowledge of Hawaii, but also allowed us to meet and make new friends and, more importantly, to be a part of the travel and tourism field for the night.”
The two met event organiser Jill at 2.30 pm at the Hilton. They got straight to work helping to set up the tables for the different agents from Hawaiian hotels, tour operators, transfer operators etc, who would be representing their companies at the event.
Next they set up their registration table at the main entrance with attendees’ name tags and got into the swing of things by donning their official Hawaiian print t-shirts and flower leis.
The students greeted the B2B group, who were there for the first hour-long session, handing them their name tags and leis.
Next to arrive were the agents from New Zealand, who were received with a traditional greeting from the Hawaiian team.
Natalia and Sian continued to greet guests and ensure that anyone who had come to the event dressed in the Hawaiian theme was given a ticket for the evening’s prize draw.
When most of the guests had arrived, Jill invited Natalia and Sian to sit with the audience and take in the evening’s presentation.
“We were also invited to join in on the food and drinks, as we were now ‘off duty’,” says Sian. “We had such a great evening. We learnt so much about the six islands of Hawaii and it was so cleverly presented that we were both sold on the idea of making a trip out there one day.”
At the end of the evening Natalia and Sian helped Jill to pack up even though she assured them they could leave, but in true ITC style the students said “we were more than happy to help her ‘close up shop’ quite simply because we had helped her ‘set up shop.’”
The evening held special interest for both students, as they are currently covering destination marketing in their ITC qualification.
“It was super to actually see how all the principles and methods we are being taught were being applied throughout the Hawaii tourism evening, ” said Sian. “We are very glad to have represented the college in the form of assistance, but, if anything, it was of more help to us.”
Thanks to Natalia and Sian for showing such great enthusiasm and professionalism at this event – this is exactly the kind of attitude that takes graduates far in the travel and tourism industry. Well done!
