Tourism Cares Announces Scholarship Offerings

Tourism Cares, a non-profit in the travel industry dedicated to preserving the travel experience for future generations, has announced its Academic Scholarship Offerings for 2009. The 42 listings include those for undergraduate and graduate students; these also include one internship with the National Tour Association’s Public Affairs Advocate, one for graduate research, one for a student with disabilities, and one for a professional development student.

"This is a particularly challenging time for students. Tourism Cares is striving to do whatever it can to help the future leaders of the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry by providing students with the resources necessary to success,” said Bruce Beckham, executive director, Tourism Cares.

Education is an important part of the Tourism Cares mission. Its scholarship opportunities range from academic to professional development. Most of the awards are available to students in either the U.S. or Canada, with the exception of the Sustainable Tourism Scholarship for graduate level students anywhere in the world.

Undergraduate students must be enrolled in a tourism-specific program or area of focus, or be enrolled in a hospitality program with a focus on travel and tourism. Graduate students must be able to demonstrate a clear focus on and commitment to the tourism-subject area. Awards range from $750 to $4,000 and students may apply for up to two scholarships.  Interested parties are encouraged to visit the Scholarship page of the Tourism Cares website www.tourismcares.org for general information and to link to the new online platform.  It provides scholarship descriptions, eligibility criteria, and required documents to submit electronically.

Additionally, all scholarship recipients are invited to participate in the Tourism Cares Experience the Industry Student Program at the National Tour Association’s Convention in Reno, NV being held November 15-19, 2009.  At the event, students shadow mentors, who are travel industry veterans, during business appointments; participate in roundtable discussions about career paths; and take advantage of networking and learning opportunities.

Visit www.tourismcares.org.