It’s an exciting time in Irish tourism. Last month, a national tourism careers programme was launched by Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, TD. Irish tourism is now on track to support an additional 40,000 new jobs by 2021, which means there is a wealth of opportunity within the industry.

There’s a specific focus on creating opportunities for young people, with the programme designed to enable second-level students to explore the range of career paths within tourism. It’s being run in close collaboration with tourism providers within Ireland, who need to recruit over 6,000 entry-level employees each year.

There are a number of different plans in place as part of the initiative. Tourism Insight, an interactive online programme for students and teachers, will be introduced, and a free digital and print magazine on tourism career options, Get a Life in Tourism, will also be published. There will also be student work experience programmes, talks held in schools and a series of careers events all around the country. The initiative will target over 800 post-primary schools and youth reach centres, and will be run by the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) and the Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI) in partnership with Fáilte Ireland.

The initiative will highlight the variety of career paths within the industry, from food and beverage to human resources, IT to management.

The Doyle Collection is proud to support the initiative, along with Dalata Hotel Group, Jurys Inn Group, Compass, Dublin Institute of Technology, The Conrad, The Gleneagle Hotel Group, Irish Travel Agents Association, TravelPort, The Lee Hotel Group, PREM Group, Muckross House, Foras Na Gaeilge, IBEC and GTTP.

Tourism is one of the largest employers in Ireland, supporting some 220,000 jobs and having created 50,000 new jobs since 2011. Last year, Ireland attracted over 8 million overseas visitors and total tourism revenue was €7.5 billion, of which foreign exchange earnings amounted to €6 billion. Overseas visitors were up over 12% by August this year and the domestic market continues to show improvement.

This continued growth in tourism is creating thousands of additional employment opportunities for young people. With tourism now on track to create a further 40,000 new jobs by 2021, there is an increasing need for the industry to attract skilled employees – which continues to be a challenge for many tourism businesses, including hotels and guesthouses.

Speaking at today's launch, Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan T.D., said:

“Tourism is one of Ireland’s most important economic sectors, demonstrating great prospects for continued growth supported by strong Government policy. Few sectors provide such a wide range of opportunities throughout the country for people across a variety of skills levels, backgrounds and interests. The various strands of the new tourism careers programme should grab the attention of our young people and open their eyes to the exciting employment and development opportunities in this growing sector - not only the variety of jobs available but also the prospects for continued progression and the chance to make a good career out of tourism".

Helen Fahy, Head of Quality and Culture at The Doyle Collection says:

“The Doyle Collection is delighted to partner with key industry stakeholders in order to brand the hospitality and tourism business to the Gen Z. The Tourism Insights platform is a blended learning tool which will engage and inform this generation about the opportunities which the business can offer them as a bona fide profession.”

You can see more about the initiatives at Tourism Insight, and Get A Life in Tourism.