Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504210039
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The students have new opportunities for careers because the school opened an Academy of Travel and Tourism this year.
Recently, Fleming also opened a simulated travel agency that is designed to prepare the students for entry-level jobs in the travel industry.
Now the school is using high technology to help interest the students in tourism and travel.
About 25 Fleming students recently participated in the National Campus Forum on Tourism, a live, interactive video conference that linked students across the country with a panel of tourism professionals.
In all, some 60,000 students at two- and four-year colleges offering tourism or hospitality degrees simultaneously viewed the forum from their campuses. Fleming was one of a handful of high schools nationwide that participated in the forum.
While the program was designed mainly for college students, the Fleming students benefitted because it provided information on job opportunities, said Joan Snyder, director of the travel and tourism academy at the school.
The forum was designed to excite students about careers in tourism and inform them of the issues to be examined at the first-ever White House Conference on Travel and Tourism in October.
It featured Greg Farmer, undersecretary of commerce for travel and tourism, and a panel of six tourism professionals who represented a cross section of the industry.
Tourism and travel is the nation's third largest retail industry, behind automobile dealers and food stores, and the nation's second largest industry in employment, behind health services.
Nearly 11 million jobs are created by the tourism and travel industry, Farmer said.
One panelist, Kirk Posmantur, senior vice president of Hospitality Franchise Systems, told the students that dreams can be fulfilled in the tourism field.
Students coming out of school can expect to make $20,000 to $30,000, he said, but some top executives in the tourism and travel industry make more than $1 million.
"You've got to work on people and networking skills, getting to know more people in the industry," Posmantur said.
Robert Grimes, president and chief executive officer of Cyntergy Corp., said students need to get wide experience in the industry if they want to move up the executive ladder.
"The more breadth in the experience, the better off you will be," Grimes said.
Godfrey Pratt, manager of special projects for Maryland's Department of Tourism Development, said there are opportunities for women and minorities in tourism and travel.
"The field is wide open, regardless of sex and race," Pratt said. "But you need a mentor, someone who can help guide you as you begin your career."
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