PAST REPRESENTATIONS

ATHE’s response to the Tourism Prospectus consultation draft (2004)

Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary on The 19th July 2004, launched ‘Tomorrow’s Tourism Today’, the joint Prospectus of the DCMS, the industry, the regions and local government.  The Prospectus sets out responsibilities and actions of key partners in tourism to deliver improvements in five areas: marketing and tourism; accommodation quality; workforce skills, data and advocacy.  The document sets out key drivers for moving the industry from a £76 billion a year to a £100 billion a year industry by 2010.  A new Tourism Review will oversee delivery of the Prospectus and Implementation Group (TRIG) chaired by the Minister, Richard Caborn and which will include membership from the Tourism academic sector.  ATHE made a submission in response to the consultation draft (see below) and some account has been taken of these comments.

The Association for Tourism in Higher Education (ATHE) (formerly the NLG – The National Liaison Group for Tourism) is the subject association for Tourism in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK. Its membership of approximately 40 HEIs enables it to speak with authority on behalf of this sector.

The ATHE welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Tourism Prospectus and will confine its response three key areas of direct interest to the Association:

1. Investment in Skills

  1. The ATHE welcomes a commitment to improving the quality of the labour force engaged in tourism.
  2. It supports the intention to raise the profile of careers and to encourage clear career development and progression.
  3. The ATHE would recommend a clarification in the document as to whether it is concerned with craft/operational skills or higher level skills.
  4. The comment “We want tourism to become the industry of career choice for many of our brightest and most ambitious people” suggests that there is a clear role for Higher Education here yet this seems to be completely missing from the subsequent objectives, which focus on the work of the Sector Skills Councils.
  5. The ATHE strongly supports the development of higher level skills for the tourism industry.
  6. In relation to this the ATHE wishes to underline the importance of Higher Education:
    1. Tourism as an important and established subject of study at UK HEIs.
    2. There are currently approximately 10,500 undergraduate and 700 postgraduate students in this area.
    3. There were 9738 UCAS applications under the JACS subject line N8 for Tourism, Transport and Travel as of March 2004.
    4. In 2003-04 there were 56 higher education institutions offering undergraduate Tourism programmes.
  7. In summary the ATHE would strongly urge that the role of higher education in developing higher level skills for the tourism industry is made explicit in the Prospectus.

2. Data and research

  1. The ATHE strongly supports the commitment to improving the quality and availability of data.
  2. The Association would like to emphasise the role that tourism research in UK HEIs does and can play in this area.

i. This role can contribute to the development of and collection of statistical sets to support the development of tourism
ii. ATHE would also strongly urge that the important role of research in developing wider knowledge about tourism is recognised. For example much of the impetus for sustainable tourism is driven by academic research in this area. Academic research can and does provide a place for the incubation of new ideas in tourism.

3. Advocacy

  1. The ATHE welcomes the fifth priority for DCMS which is to strengthen the advocacy of tourism.
  2. The Association would like to urge the DCMS to utilise the expertise and skills of Higher Education in promoting this
  3. The ATHE would like to signal its interest in promoting the role of Higher Education in facilitating the proposed annual tourism industry conference.

Research and education in tourism is thriving in UK Higher Education and sets world class standards. In recognition of this the ATHE urges the DCMS to make the role and contribution of Higher Education explicit in its Prospectus in relation to the issues raised above. It would further urge the Department to ensure that each of the partner agencies referred to in the document is asked to incorporate Higher Education into their planning. The ATHE would be happy to offer itself as a point of contact between these agencies and tourism higher education.

Professor John Tribe
Chair, ATHE