The proficiency award is made up of three modules and a work place project

The three modules are

Hotel management

This course has 9 lessons:

1.  Introduction: Scope and Nature of Hotel Management

2.  Organisation of the Hotel Workplace

3.  Staff Management in Hotels

4.  Control Systems

5.  Front Desk Management (Reception)

6.  Servicing Rooms & General Cleaning

7.  Building & Facility Maintenance

8.  Activities Management: tour desk, gymnasium, events (weddings, balls etc)

9.  Food Service

Food and Beverage Management

This subject has 9 lessons:

1.  Human Nutrition

2.  Cooking

3.  Kitchen & Food Management

4.  Planning A Menu

5.  Alcoholic Beverages

6.  Tea, Coffee and Non-Alcoholic Beverages

7.  Scope & Nature Of Catering Services

8.  Personnel Management (waiting skills, staffing a restaurant, kitchen etc)

9.  Management Of Catering Services

Ecotour Management

The course is divided into nine lessons as follows:

1.  Nature and Scope of Ecotourism - Definition of ecotourism; negative ecotourism; principles of ecotourism.

2.  Management Issues - Recreation and the environment; recreational impacts on the environment; ethical and legal concerns; code of practice for ecotourism operators; incorporating ecotourism principles into activities; interpretation; visitor guidelines; planning for minimal impact; quality control.

3.  Industry Destinations - The ecotourism market; what do ecotourists want?; trends in international tourism; understanding the needs of the consumer; consumer expectations.

4.  The Tour Desk/Office - Office procedures; providing information; employment prospects in ecotourism; bookings, business letters; telephone manner.

5.  Accommodation Facilities - Types of accommodation facilities; layout of facilities.

6.  Catering Facilities - Introduction to catering; accepted practice for service facilities; storing and preserving food.

7.  Legal Considerations - National Parks; land use/planning restrictions; code of practice.

8.  Safety- The safety strategy; hazards; first aid.

9.  Planning an Ecotourism Activity - A special project where the student plans out an ecotourism activity including budget, accommodation, licenses, meals and the destination.

INDUSTRY PROJECT OR WORK EXPERIENCE

This is the final requirement that you must satisfy before receiving your award.

There are two options available to you to satisfy this requirement:

Alternative 1.

If you work in the industry that you have been studying; you may submit a reference from your employer, in an effort to satisfy this industry (ie. workplace project) requirement; on the basis of RPL (ie. recognition for prior learning), achieved through your current and past work experience.

The reference must indicate that you have skills and an awareness of your industry, which is sufficient for you to work in a position of responsibility.

Alternative 2.

If you do not work in the relevant industry, you need to undertake a project as follows.

Procedure for a Workplace Project

This project is a major part of the course involving the number of hours relevant to the course (see above). Although the course does not contain mandatory work requirements, work experience is seen as highly desirable.

This project is based on applications in the work place and specifically aims to provide the student with the opportunity to apply and integrate skills and knowledge developed through various areas of formal study.

Students will design this project in consultation with a tutor to involve industry based activities in the area of specialized study which they select to follow in the course. The project outcomes may take the form of a written report, folio, visuals or a mixture of forms. Participants with relevant, current or past work experience will be given exemption from this project if they can provide suitable references from employers that show they have already fulfilled the requirements of this project.

For courses that involve more than 100 hours, more than one workplace project topic may be selected. For example, 200 hours may be split into two projects each of 100 hours. This will offer the student better scope to fulfill the needs of their course and to meet the number of hours required. Alternatively, the student may wish to do one large project with a duration of 200 hours.

Students will be assessed on how well they achieve the goals and outcomes they originally set as part of their negotiations with their tutor. During each 100 hours of the project, the students will present three short progress reports. These progress reports will be taken into account when evaluating the final submission. The tutor must be satisfied that the work submitted is original.

If the student wishes to do one large 200 hour report, then only three progressive reports will be needed (however the length of each report will be longer).