What We Do
Curriculum Development
Each member country uses its own tourism education curriculum. In some countries, schools use a GTTP-developed curriculum as their official curriculum while other use it to supplement their own courses.
The GTTP curriculum is called PASSPORT TO THE WORLD: An Introduction to Travel & Tourism. It comes with three modules: a module for use by instructors; a module for use by students, which includes a guide to information resources; and a module with a comprehensive schedule of student activities. It is available in English, Russian, Magyar, Portuguese, French and Spanish. It is being translated into two versions of Chinese.
Click here to see the Introduction to the Instructor's Guide which includes an explanation of the PASSPORT curriculum and an outline of the syllabus.
PASSPORT was developed by GTTP country directors and teachers. The course provides students with a basic understanding of tourism as a global industry. The curriculum is "teacher friendly" and is designed in such a way that basic concepts and information are combined with activities that focus the students on their own community or region.
PASSPORT is part of the basic curriculum in Russia and Hungary and has been adopted by the federal government of Brazil as part of its drive to expand tourism education in state and municipal schools throughout Brazil.
In some countries, like Russia, PASSPORT TO THE WORLD, is the officially-approved introductory curriculum. In others, like Ireland, PASSPORT TO THE WORLD was incorporated into Ireland’s new national curriculum. In other member countries, PASSPORT TO THE WORLD is used to supplement existing curriculum. It was adopted by the federal government of Brazil as part of its drive to expand tourism education in state and municipal schools throughout Brazil.
Students who master the material in PASSPORT TO THE WORLD are eligible to receive a certificate attesting to their achievement. Click here to read more.
Teacher Training
GTTP teacher-training courses on the global curriculum, PASSPORT TO THE WORLD, and on student assessment methodologies have been delivered to teachers in Hungary, Jamaica, Russia, Kenya, and South Africa. These are in addition to regular teacher training provided by each country program.
The GTTP assessment approach utilizes portfolios prepared by the students, and provides teacher training in this method.
Collaborative Projects
The GTTP member countries work together in a number of ways, especially in the sharing ideas and experiences that can improve their own operations. Country directors conduct teacher training sessions in GTTP member countries. The development of the curriculum known as PASSPORT is an example of a collaborative project. The GTTP’s GUIDE TO LINKS sets out the steps you can take to link students in one country to students in another country. For a copy of the Guide, click here.
Student Activities
GTTP member countries involve students in a myriad of local and national activities. The GTTP sponsors two global competitions.
- GTTP Research Competition & Award: The Travel & Tourism courses taught in GTTP member countries emphasizes student activities. Each year GTTP hosts an International Student/Teacher Conference attended by students and their teachers from GTTP member countries. The students previously have competed for the GTTP Research Award in their home countries. The winning school teams in each country attend the conference. The conference is sponsored by the GTTP; its Global Partners.
- Student Travel Writing Competition: The essay competition reinforces the GTTP’s emphasis on encouraging research and communications skills. Students compete for national cash prizes of US$300 and two international prizes of US$500. The competition divides students into two categories: students over 15 years of age and students younger than 15. The competition is sponsored by the GTTP’s Global partners. For the 2008 competition and the winning essays, click here.
Internships
Internships where students are exposed to the workplace are an important part of the activities of GTTP members. Students need to be able to see what life is like in a “real” business. In some GTTP member countries, internships are paid activities and students work for months or even during an entire school year at a local business. In other member countries, such an extensive internship is not feasible. One alternative for exposing students to the workplace is unpaid, 30-hour work-study programs that can be conducted individually or in groups.
The GTTP has developed a manual in English and Spanish to help schools set up internship/work-study programs.
English version of The GTTP Internship Manual
Spanish version of The GTTP Internship Manual
