Local pupils off to France
A PAIR of Kirkwood High pupils will be winging their way to France after winning a global travel and tourism competition.
Yandré Tibshraeny, 18, and Miké Hechter, 17, were the winning team from South Africa in The Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP) Student Research Competition this year for their study that was supervised by teacher Ena Potgieter.
The pair will now present their case study research findings at the GTTP’s annual pupil/teacher conference, which starts on Monday in Nice, France.
Entrants – 2000 in total from 12 different countries – had to discuss how the growing trend for travellers to combine business and leisure trips (Bleisure travel) could attract more visitors and enhance the tourist experience in their respective countries.
At the Nice conference, the winning pupils from schools that use the GTTP’s Passport to the World travel and tourism educational curriculum will present their findings.
Countries represented this year include: Brazil, China, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Russia, South Africa and Tanzania.
The pupils will also explain their views on the role of sustainability and technology in supporting “Bleisure” tourism.
GTTP executive director Nancy Needham said: “The core mission of GTTP is to expose young people to the many different kinds of professional careers offered by the travel and tourism industry.
“By changing the student research topic each year, we also introduce students to issues and trends affecting the industry and the people who work in it.
“We could not do all this without the involvement and support of the industry leaders who guide GTTP.”
The GTTP, established in 1996, operates in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania and the UK.
About 467 000 students participated in the GTTP.