22nd May 2024

South Devon College Travel and Tourism students swapped the classroom for the caves as they undertook a three-week training program in partnership with Kents Cavern visitor attraction. 

The students received training sessions underground in the prehistoric Devonian Limestone caves as part of their Level 3 Travel and Tourism Tour Guiding module, culminating in the students delivering their own guided tours to Level 2 students, family and friends. 

James Hull, General Manager of Kents Cavern, said: ”We’ve been working with South Devon College for a number of years but what we’re doing this year is totally new. It’s a new collaboration where our Education Manager is working with the Travel and Tourism students, showing them how to do a tour and treating them like employees. At the end they deliver their guided tours as professional tour guides. 

“This activity is about giving the students confidence to deliver a guide, talk to the general public and project a subject in an engaging and exciting way.” 

The experience provided a realistic industry environment for the students to develop their confidence and employability skills in preparation for entering the tourism and hospitality workforce. 

Liv Legg, a Level 3 Travel and Tourism student who took part in the training, said: “We’ve been working with the amazing team at Kents Cavern, and this experience has enabled us to work as a team whilst still delivering sections of the tour on our own – I got to talk about the skulls! It’s been nice to do something outside the classroom whilst meeting new people – it’s been very enjoyable.” 

^{Students Liv Legg (right) and Hannah Lines during their tour guiding experience at Kents Cavern}

The English Riviera is seeing continual regeneration and growth, and the College offers a variety of tourism and hospitality-related courses, designed in consultation with key employers and stakeholders, to ensure the industry is supplied with a qualified workforce. 

Working alongside Torbay Council in the delivery of its English Riviera Destination Management Plan, set up for the ongoing development of Torbay as a tourism destination for 2022-2030, the College is focusing on skills development for the sector. 

Another ‘first’ for the Travel and Tourism students this year was a collaboration between the College and the Bodmin Jail Attraction and Hotel.  

The learners took part in a case study field trip to the venue as part of their UK Visitor Attractions module, involving a self-guided tour of the attraction, and the ‘Dark Walk’ experience, which uses theatrical effects and the latest technology to transport visitors back to times of smuggling, mining and infamous prisoners. 

There was also focus on the commercial and operational sides of a tourism business, including signage, commercial revenue opportunities, marketing, management techniques of visitor movement, and sustainability measures.  

They took part in a Q&A session with the Sales Manager asking specific industry-led questions and providing key feedback – after a group suggestion from the students the jail has now introduced a ‘Lights Out’ tour to add to its dramatic offerings!  

In addition, after viewing a student’s final case study after the visit, the venue audited its signage and added a new section to its website, to enable future educational field trips. 

Student Hannah Lines said: “My visit to Bodmin Jail was an incredible experience and informative for me to use as part of my Visitor Attraction assignment case study.  

“I was delighted to receive feedback from the Sales Manager that my unique business information has helped them with suggested future business developments.  

“I am very proud the visit has helped me achieve my Level 3 Diploma in Travel and Tourism and I am looking forward to starting the University Centre South Devon’s Foundation Degree in Business Management.” 

With a new Visit England Local Visitor Economy Partnership accreditation for the county, meaning local authorities and organisations collaborate to promote and manage the growth of Devon’s local visitor economy, and with an aim to achieve an additional £75m of tourism spend and 1,500 new FTE jobs by 2030, it is clear that Torbay’s tourism and hospitality businesses are a growth industry. And South Devon College is perfectly positioned to develop and deliver the curriculum needed to train the sector’s workforce. 

Take a look at all our courses here: Tourism & Hospitality Archives – South Devon College