Successful Fd embraced by travel industry
First graduates congratulated at House of Commons reception
The first graduates from the Foundation degree in Travel Operations Management have been congratulated on their achievement at a House of Commons reception hosted by fdf (Foundation Degree Forward).
The graduates, employees of travel company TUI, have pioneered the FdTOM and the innovative qualification is now being rolled out across the industry.
Kevin Brennan, Minister for Apprenticeships, Further Education and Consumer Affairs at the Department for Business Innovation & Skills, paid tribute to the graduates and said the Fd programme was a prime example of a successful employer-led, high level qualification.
Foundation degrees are a central feature of the government’s new framework for Higher Education and the Skills Strategy unveiled by BIS last year.
Professor Derek Longhurst, chief executive of fdf, said the FdTOM is an example of the innovative ways employers can work with HE providers to create high level training provision.
The flexibility of the qualification proves particularly attractive to employers and he added:
“It is essential that we continue to develop creative models of the qualification that are rooted in partnership and collaborative dialogue between academic institutions, employers like TUI and employees such as these graduates. This will ensure the Foundation degree is widely perceived as meeting real social and economic need.
“Facilitating that dialogue and challenging attitudes is what fdf is all about. We see partnership with companies like TUI, leading their sector in developing and investing in their people, as an alliance that can deliver both business benefit and create opportunities for personal and professional development that would not otherwise exist.
“We all know that we will face difficult and challenging times in the next few years. This kind of innovative approach is one strong response to those challenges.”
Dermot Blastland, MD of TUI UK and Ireland, paid tribute to the efforts of all those who developed the initial FdTOM programme and the first graduates.
He said he was proud that TUI was blazing a trail for the rest of the industry:
“This programme is very important for our organisation, but also significant for the individuals involved. I am hoping this success percolates throughout the organisation and the industry as a whole.
“I am certainly a great supporter of this Foundation degree programme. As a company we are fully committed to its on-going development and hopefully others will begin to share in its success.”
Twenty graduates attended the reception and were joined by representatives from a variety of universities and colleges involved in the FdTOM programme, along with other employers and organisations backing the qualification.
Brian Wisdom, chief executive of People 1st, the sector skills council for hospitality, leisure and tourism, highlighted the significance that the majority of the first graduates are women. He said:
“Although 60% of the workforce in our industry is women, only 6% occupy board level positions. We need this to change and who knows we may see some of the next generation of female directors amongst the first graduates from this Foundation degree.
“TUI has been in the vanguard of professional training within our industry, it has long recognised that such qualifications add real value to their business. There is now an opportunity for others in the industry to support this qualification.”
