24 June 2025
The Visit Pembrokeshire team recently caught up with Sera, to get to know a bit about teaching and learning at our county’s largest provider of post-16 education and training.
How long is the Travel & Tourism course at Pembrokeshire college and what does it cover?
Our Level 2 course is a one-year full time course and our Level 3 course is a 2-year full-time course, which equates to 3 A Levels. Our courses cover a wide-range of topics which help the learners gain an insight into the ever-changing industry, with a mixture of theory and practical assignments. Units include; customer service, preparing for a career, UK Visitor attractions, work experience, tour guiding, storytelling in tourism, cabin crew, resort representative responsibilities, UK conferences and events, and many more.
Why is tourism still seen as an undervalued career and what is being done to change that?
Tourism is Pembrokeshire's main economic driver, providing circa 24% of the Pembrokeshire economy and 12-13k jobs; 23% of Pembrokeshire’s total employment.
Unfortunately, I witness many young people regarding the tourism industry as being a ‘casual’ job opportunity and not a professional career opportunity. Many young people aren’t aware of the progression opportunities we have available within local businesses, or the power and influence of learning skills and developing from the many businesses that Pembrokeshire has to offer.
As a teaching team, we now have strong connections with local secondary schools where we are promoting the course to prospective learners. This has helped our numbers increase year by year. We also have strong connections with the tourism department at UWTSD, encouraging our students to continue with higher education in the sector but also allowing them to continue living at home or completing placements nearby.
Every year, we encourage speakers in the industry to visit us in the college to educate our learners on their journey to their position, as well as networking with local businesses on trips and visits. These connections are vital for our learners and young people to understand the value and potential of working in tourism in Pembrokeshire or Wales, and to motivate them to develop skills and continue to thrive in travel and tourism roles.
Why should a Pembrokeshire business offer work placements?
Our learners develop skills and essential knowledge throughout our courses to help bring their enthusiasm to your business. This includes; helping with marketing and promotional opportunities using up-to-date digital software, knowledge on excellent customer service, a willingness to learn, the ability to work in a team, knowledge and ideas on sustainability within a business and local knowledge. This could lead to the learner coming to work for your business after completing our course, therefore helping you and the learner to gain a connection before committing to full-time employment.
How long would a work placement last?
This year, we are planning on trialing a 2-week placement opportunity for our learners to gain an insight into the everyday work patterns of the travel and tourism businesses in Pembrokeshire. This must accumulate to a total of 50 hours in the business. We predict this will take place around the Easter period in term time.
Would a business need any special insurances/adaptations to take on a work placement?
Our in-house work experience team liaises with the learners and their chosen work placements. This may include an in-person visit to make sure all health and safety requirements are met or a phone call. Paperwork does require details including; the employer liability insurance name, policy number and expiry date, to protect the business and our learners. We ask the employer provides copies of an employers handbook to the learner and/or introduction to the business for the learner to understand your policies. At the end of the placement, we ask you complete an informal meeting with the learners, reflecting strengths and limitations during their placement, to help develop their knowledge and skills within the industry for the future.
How would a business find out more?
Please feel free to contact myself to ask further questions or to request for a certain type of learner. We can try and match businesses with suitable learners who live nearby. You can also contact our in-house work experience team who are available for any queries regarding paperwork or visits.
Sera Price
Sera Price – s.price@pembrokeshire.ac.uk
Heather Fitzgerald – workexperience@pembrokeshire.ac.uk (mailto:)
For more general information on Pembrokeshire College you can visit their website.
