ITS plans to launch new prospectus

The Institute of Tourism Studies celebrates its 20th anniversary in November, but such anniversaries mean nothing when ITS is such a hotbed of activity all year round.

Apart from being one of the very few educational institutions that has totally embraced the idea of e-learning with a record 85 modules on-line, it has also just published its first journal, Welcome, that fuses popular articles with research material in the annals of sustainable tourism and various touristic disciplines, and is preparing for the grand-finale of a rural tourism sustainable project that will surely help to diversify the Maltese tourist product.

ITS is possibly one of the most active educational institutions on the island. While many educational facilities are trying to keep their doors open after school hours, ITS classes are occupied until 10.30 p.m. with both part-time and full-time students, and a variety of courses that range from managing a hotel to preparing a culinary masterpiece.

In the coming week, ITS will be issuing its prospectus for the 2008/2009 academic year which reflects the institute's drive to excellence in hospitality education, with the addition of new modules and the upgrading of several courses. As the first academic institution to have signed the official protocol with the Malta Qualifications Council, ITS has rethought some of the courses so that they reflect more what is being done abroad in the annals of hospitality and tourism studies.

ITS was established in 1987 to meet the changing needs of the hospitality and tourism industry. It is a higher education and research institution, with the main responsibility of furnishing the tourism sector with professional personnel who can guarantee an excellent standard of products and services within the industry.

Proof of this is the numerous citations the institute has received both from local and foreign operators where students are sent for their internship abroad.

ITS caters for all aspects of the hospitality industry including tourism-related enterprises and catering establishments such as hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, leisure centres, fast food outlets, in-flight catering, hospitals and elderly peoples' homes. Within these organisations, a wide choice of jobs is available and the institute offers courses that cater from a basic foundation level to an undergraduate Higher Diploma.

Programmes of study at Higher Diploma level prepare students for careers in hospitality and tourism management, while programmes at Certificate and Diploma Level prepare students for careers in hotel operations, accommodation operations, travel agency operations and tour guiding. Programmes of study are also offered at craft and technical levels in food preparation and production, and food and beverage service, and the Extended Skill Training Scheme (ESTS) in hospitality trades.

ITS also offers a number of part-time and day-release courses as well as tailor-made training modules designed to meet specific needs within the industry. These range from one- and two-day management seminars and refresher courses to specific skills training programmes. Specific single certification modules are also available. These usually start in October and in February and are an excellent preparation for the City & Guilds certificate examinations.

The institute's programmes of study are designed to meet the needs of industry on a global level. Its students receive both theoretical and practical exposure throughout the course, thus enabling them to be operational as soon as they step into the world of work.

The institute has attained centre status or accreditation from a number of international awarding bodies, including the Malta Qualifications Council, City and Guilds, the Wines and Spirits Education Trust, the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Royal Society of Health, the European Association of Erasmus Coordinators (EAEC), the Association of European Hotels and Tourism Institutions, and the National Rural Development Agency.

ITS is currently undertaking a number of projects. It has partnered with different countries including Sicily, France, Hungary, Norway and Sweden in several EU projects. It has participated in the Saperi e Sapori project under Interreg IIIA Italia-Malta Programme and is currently involved along with Arces of Palermo in another Interreg IIIA Programme entitled Prisma. The project's main goal is to introduce a new concept in tourism called Integrated Relational Tourism.

This tied well with ITS's attempts to perform research in sustainable and rural tourism. Several other projects regarding tourism that respect the environment and a number of exchanges, that continue to make ITS one of the foremost educational facilities on the island, are in the offing.

ITS is currently participating in a project partly funded by the European Union - ESF 80 - Providing Basic Training in Hospitality Trades to disadvantaged persons and persons with learning difficulties. The second course is currently running.

Following the participation of ITS in the Medforist Project, a three-year initiative funded by the EU, to set up a Euro-Mediterranean network of e-Business teachers, ITS has also set up the Centre for E-learning Technologies.

The main objectives of CELT are to create and maintain a centre for e-learning and computer-based learning with special emphasis on their use in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry; to carry out research into e-learning and computer-based learning techniques; and to promote distance-learning, interface design, cultural adaptation and multimedia.

This year, the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute, has also witnessed the setting-up of the Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies. This centre will enhance the educational and public profile of ITS as well as be a possible platform for a better academic input into the hospitality, cultural and heritage sectors of the Maltese islands. Such a centre does not exist in Malta and the need for a place where academics and practitioners can put forward new ideas, practices and discuss certain issues appertaining to the studies, is sorely needed.