Scholarship Programme Opens For Scottish Hospitality Industry

Organised by charitable organisation, the Hospitality Industry Trust (HIT) Scotland, the Emerging Talent Scholarship programme is estimated to annually return close to £1 million through making a £100,000 investment in emerging talent working in the industry.

Applications can come from anyone working in a tourism, leisure, travel and hospitality organisations in Scotland. Close to180,000 people are employed in one of 18,000 businesses.  In total the hospitality industry returns £11.2 billion to the Scottish economy.

The announcement was made at the charity’s POETS Lunch, an annual fundraiser at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow, in front of 400 industry experts.

The scholarships programme works by providing individuals with money-can’t-buy-experience or an international learning opportunity.

By focussing on developing promising people, HIT Scotland aims to increase the number of professionals who raise the standards of others around them. In turn, the charity believes this will sustain improvements in standards and help Scotland compete with international destinations with a stronger customer service ethos.

Scholarships, which take place locally, nationally and internationally, include working with Michelin starred chefs and award winning sommeliers, courses in leading hotel schools in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Disney Institute, Florida, revenue training and going behind the scenes of a six start resort in Dubai.

For the first time, HIT Scotland is to offer an entrepreneurial and revenue scholarships to encourage fresh thinking and better commercial understanding.

HIT Scotland also provides bespoke Frank Mullen scholarships allowing people to create their own experience. For senior managers, the charity will award two places to Cornell University’s school of hotel administration. 

Over the previous eight years, over 800 scholarships have been awarded. So far the scheme is estimated to have returned £5m through new skills, promoting best practice, improving staff retention and encouraging professional development.

Applicants can be any age but they need to work in the hospitality industry and live in Scotland.

Beverly Payne, head of HIT Scotland’s scholarship committee, said, “The scholarships are seen as high value opportunities and it is vital that we keep providing great experiences so people can learn from the best and bring back ideas and innovations to help move Scottish hospitality forward.”

Applications close on the 30th of November. For more information visit http://www.hitscotland.co.uk/

The program is funded through events in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, London and Aberdeen. Sponsorship also comes from some of the biggest names in the hospitality business, Brakes, Wiseman Dairies, Philips, Enterprise Rent a Car, Caterer.com and Highland Spring.

For more information about HIT Scotland and the emerging talent scholarship programme please contact Joe Walton at Real PR on 07968022684 or email Joe@real-pr.co.uk.

Images: for images for last year's winners picking up their award at the Emerging Talent Conference earlier this year please visit http://db.tt/e9oWxpA. Pictures are free to use with credit to Lewis Haughton.

 Video:http://www.youtube.com/hitscotland. The HIT Scotland YouTube channels has a number of speeches by former scholars. You are welcome to download or embed the videos into your own sites.