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More students enroll for courses with the Institute of Tourism Studies
More students enroll for courses with the Institute of Tourism Studies
These past two years have been hard for a number of industries, especially the Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Having said that, the future looks bright for this industry. In the past days, Prime Minister Abela announced that the Government will continue on providing support for the tourism industry, through the Recovery Plan which will also be enjoyed by the Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS).
“Hospitality is engrained in Maltese culture. The role of the Institute of Tourism Studies is to sustain these traditions and transform them into people of great service in terms of the touristic product we offer to tourists across the globe. It is encouraging to see that ITS opens its doors with the number of students starting their studies with the Institute being at par to 2019. In 2020, during the pandemic year, the Institute recorded an unusual hike in numbers due to the scholarships offered by the Malta Tourism Authority, which saw a large number of industry employed individuals apply for various courses with the Institute. These figures are truly encouraging to achieve our goal in creating a future proof of tourism industry based on quality and excellence.” remarked Minister for Tourism and Consumer Protection Clayton Bartolo.
Minister for Tourism and Consumer Protection Clayton Bartolo
Although the number of full-time students enrolled with the Institute is at par with previous years, the highest increase is found in part-time courses, varying from Higher National Diploma in Tourist Guiding to Master’s Degrees. ITS CEO, Mr Pierre Fenech also said that this year was a record year for the Certificate level programmes when compared to previous years. This manifests that there has been an increase in students who have just finished their O levels and have chosen to pursue a career in Tourism and Hospitality. There has been an average of a 29% increase from 2020, 7% from 2019 and 41% from 2018 of students who have enrolled with the Institute at this level. This further on shows the
interest of youngsters for the industry. The Foundation programme has also received a high number of applications, more than the year 2020 and 2018, and at par to 2019.
During the year 2021-2022, although registering a drop from previous years due to covid-19 travelling restrictions, ITS still registered a substantial number of foreign students coming from 43 different nations. Some of these students will be following their lectures online, due to Covid-19 related travel restrictions. This is thanks to the heavy investment in the ITS technological infrastructure, which will also be used by other students, as hybrid classes may be used when needed.
ITS Chairman, Mr Carlo Micallef concluded by saying tha”the tourism industry has once again confirmed that it is the most resilient of industries, able to overcome the massive challenge that the world had to face in the past 18 months, and after coming to a standstill at the peak of the worldwide pandemic it is recovering strongly, much faster than many anticipated. Tourism is an industry that creates jobs overnight, puts money directly in the people’s pocket and with its multiplier effect pushes other industries into motion to create wealth for the Maltese Islands. The students studying at the Institute for Tourism Studies have a bright future ahead with unlimited career prospects both in the Maltese Islands as well as abroad.”
