With only two years left until London plays host to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, there’s never been a more exciting time to consider a career in the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism (HLTT) industry...

And the opportunities will continue, with a ‘golden decade’ of sporting events approaching - including the 2010 Ryder Cup in Newport, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

It is estimated that the 2012 Games will attract up to 300,000 overseas visitors, one million from the UK and five million from London, as well as 50,000 athletes, press and officials. Around 100,000 contract jobs will be created to stage the event, many of which will be employed in hospitality, tourist services and event management roles.

The eyes of the world will fall on the UK, and the HLTT sector has a huge role to play in delivering a world-class visitor experience. From booking and managing accommodation and travel for the thousands of tourists, to providing food at the sporting events, catering for the athletes at the Olympic Park, and ensuring that the opening, closing, and awards ceremonies go off with a bang, HLTT employees will be at the heart of the action in 2012.

Putting the Olympics aside, the employment opportunities in the HLTT sector are vast. Covering 14 industries, and with over 208,000 additional jobs opening by 2017 – including 69,000 management roles – it’s a fast-paced, growing industry with a myriad of different career paths.

If you are looking for a challenge, enjoy interacting with others and gain satisfaction from providing your customers with a memorable experience, then a career in HLTT could be for you.

If the prospect of working in this vibrant sector excites you, but you are not sure which route to take, an apprenticeship is a fantastic way to gain industry experience and see first-hand the wealth of different opportunities that are available.

Apprenticeships are open to anyone over the age of 16 who is not in full-time education. As an apprentice, you get to ‘earn while you learn’ – gaining job-specific skills by working alongside experienced staff, while also working towards a nationally recognised qualification. Training can take place on the job at employer premises, partly provided by a local college or specialist training providers, or conducted entirely by an employer’s in-house training department.

A regular apprenticeship is equivalent to five good GCSE passes, while the advanced apprenticeship is equivalent to two A-level passes.

There are two apprenticeship routes for the HLTT sector – the Apprenticeship in Hospitality and Catering, and the Apprenticeship in Travel and Tourism Services: Leisure and Business – although there are a number of different areas that you can specialise in within those frameworks. These include professional cookery, food and drink service, housekeeping, and hospitality supervision.

Two new and improved apprenticeship frameworks for hospitality and catering and travel services are due to be launched this August, so there has never been a better time to become an HLTT apprentice!

The new frameworks have been developed by People 1st, the sector skills council for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism, and have been supported by wide consultation with HLTT employers to ensure that apprentices will gain the exact skills and knowledge that their businesses need.
An apprenticeship is a great way to demonstrate your skills, knowledge and commitment to a prospective employer. Many find them extremely valuable - not only for the learner, but for their business too. In a recent survey undertaken by People 1st, four in ten employers offering apprenticeships claimed that apprentices were more productive than hiring new staff, while 49 percent felt they made their business more competitive.

Many HLTT companies also run their own apprenticeship schemes, which meet the national standard, and see them as an important route to develop new entrants in the industry. Travel company TUI, for example, has found that, on average, their former apprentices have higher overall sales figures than non-apprentices – by as much as 17 percent. Whitbread has also worked with People 1st to develop its own apprenticeship scheme, while McDonald’s became the UK’s largest apprenticeship provider when it launched its programme in 2009 – it now offers up to 10,000 opportunities each year.