How museums support Leisure and Tourism

Leisure and Tourism is a popular subject for study from Key Stage 4 onwards. There are a range of qualifications on offer, some more vocational than others. These include GCSEs in Leisure and Tourism and GCSEs, 14-19 Diplomas, BTECs, NVQs and A levels in Travel and Tourism.

The key themes students study include:

  • organisational type and structure
  • business operations
  • job roles and employment opportunities
  • marketing and market research
  • visitor statistics and reasons for visiting
  • customer care

What can museums do?

It’s relatively easy to provide for Leisure and Tourism students because it’s just about being a museum. You could:

  • Provide a case study for marketing and customer service. At Explosion, for example,  the business services manager who has developed and implemented the marketing and customer service strategies leads the sessions. As a relatively new museum attraction which has moved from charitable status to Local Authority funding in its short life, Explosion! makes an excellent case study.
  • Involve a range of colleagues. Students need to hear about how different parts of the museum operate and the various roles people play.
  • Give a talk at your museum or in school or college. Much of what they want to know is just standard practice in your museum. Take along any leaflets and other promotional materials, especially if they are targeted at different audiences.
  • Put some useful information on your website. Schools might be interested in visitor research, marketing strategies, even just your visitor figures for the last few years.
  • Organise a study day with a teacher from a local secondary school. They may be able to invite students from other schools too and you could invite other museums to take part.
  • Offer a placement for work-related learning or a longer project to your nearest school or college delivering the Travel and Tourism Diploma.

Downloads:

Websites:

  • The Travel and Tourism Diploma is offered by amongst others Edexcel and AQA.
  • You can download a Leisure and Tourism GCSE syllabus (specification) from OCR.
  • The new vocational GCSE in Leisure and Tourism features on Teachers TV.

The following museums offer sessions to support Leisure and Tourism and provide useful information about them on their websites.