Media Release from AccorHotels Queenstown
Two Queenstown businesses have joined forces with their local high school to offer a student a scholarship to kickstart their global tourism career.
AccorHotels four Queenstown hotels have partnered with the award-winning Queenstown Resort College to award one lucky Wakatipu High School (WHS) student with a scholarship covering fifty percent of tuition fees for a Diploma in Hospitality Management.
The WHS Scholarship provides recognition and reward to a student demonstrating a high level of academic achievement and extra-curricular involvement. The scholarship includes a guaranteed internship placement at one of AccorHotels’ market-leading Queenstown properties.
Students can apply for the grant by submitting responses to several questions, including an inventive 100-word response to “the secret of their success if they ran a world-renowned Queenstown hotel in 2028”.
The scholarship is a collective vision to open up the world of hotel business to Queenstown students, exposing them to a compelling career path in tourism with the option to travel worldwide.
AccorHotels Regional Director of Talent and Culture Erin Dalton praised the leadership of the Queenstown hotels.
“It’s fantastic to see the four hotels nurturing their talent pipeline when faced with housing and immigration challenges,” she said.
“The scholarship demonstrates the value we place on engaging with our local community as a company.”
The opportunity will take students who are already ‘innately hospitable’ living in Queenstown and are a natural fit for the resort’s hotels.
The scheme is designed to engage Queenstown’s local community in the myriad of opportunities that exist for emerging young business leaders within the hospitality and tourism industries.
Wakatipu High School Principal Steve Hall described the scholarship as an amazing opportunity to study on “home turf”.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to begin a successful career in Queenstown and New Zealand,” he said.
“Financially, the WHS Scholarship will be invaluable to a local family. We have so many great hardworking students, and it’s such a fantastic opportunity to be awarded financial aid for further education.
“It’s important to recognise careers in adventure tourism or hospitality and hotel management as some of the best in New Zealand.
“The professional standards to which QRC prepares graduates with business training, along with practical experience, is highly sought-after by prospective employers.”
Queenstown Resort College Chief Executive Charlie Phillips said gaining a recognised qualification in the tourism and hospitality sector presented “unlimited opportunities”.
“It’s fantastic to see AccorHotels acknowledge the quality of QRC as the hotels have successfully employed many of our top graduates throughout the years,” he said.
“The hotel group acknowledges QRC as a quality provider with excellent outcomes and it makes sense for our local high school to consider us as their local tertiary provider.
“The scholarship is a great opportunity for students to work within New Zealand’s largest export industry. It’s fantastic to see all parties promoting the virtues of tourism as a career of choice.”
Applications must be submitted by September 30 2017 and shortlisted applicants will undergo a formal interview with senior AccorHotels’ management.
The successful applicant will be announced at the WHS Senior prize giving at Wakatipu High School on November 2 2017.
Picture caption:
1/ AccorHotels invites Wakatipu High School students to ‘dream big’ with tourism scholarship for a Diploma in Hospitality Management at Queenstown Resort College