NIAGARA – Contiki took several busloads of Seneca College Hospitality and Tourism students for a day-long mini-FAM to Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake, to give them a taste of the travel industry and help inspire future careers.
“It’s no secret that our mission is to empower 18-35 year-olds, partly through the work we do with tourism and hospitality programs in our academic partnerships across Canada,” said Brad Ford, President of Contiki Canada. “Days like this are instrumental in empowering young professionals because how do they know what they want to do, unless they have the experiences beforehand?”
Students on the mini-FAM are currently taking the Reality Tourism course at Seneca College, a first-year course specifically designed with career planning in mind. Contiki and Seneca worked together on creating this opportunity to help students understand the different aspects of running a tour, showcasing a destination and making sure guests have an enjoyable time.
“This course is all about getting the students to learn about the different sectors of tourism, so this mini-FAM gives the students the opportunity to experience a full Contiki tour,” says Ed Bennington, professor at Seneca College. “The students were totally engaged on the bus coming down and the tour manager have been absolutely fantastic.”
Activities for the day included a tour of Jackson-Triggs winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, as well as Contiki’s version of an Amazing Race around Niagara Falls. The Amazing Race had students running around using clues to identify locations and take a group photo.
Amazing trip! Thank you for the experience Contiki! #contikiniagara #SenecaSoHT pic.twitter.com/YR85doULeM
— Christina Viernes (@christnaviernes) November 30, 2015
SoHT students getting ready for the Contiki Amazing Race #SenecaSoHT @ContikiCanada #ContikiNiagara pic.twitter.com/ydtxIOcp2b — Angela Zigras (@azigras) November 30, 2015
Limestone in the soil is key for making Niagara wine taste so great. #ContikiNiagara #SenecaSoHt@ContikiCanada pic.twitter.com/SbT7QECVnj
— SenecaSoHT (@SenecaSoHT) November 30, 2015
Contiki focuses on providing authentic travel experiences to 18-35 year-olds – often inexperienced travellers – hopefully sparking a lifelong love of travel. A total of 270 trips worldwide with 3,724 departures per year all over the world, Contiki offers expert trip managers, internal flights, private transport, atmospheric accommodation and lots of activities for adrenaline junkies. For more information, visit contiki.com
