History

Caucasus Tourism School (formerly ICTSE (International Center of Tourism Service Education) started its activities in 2006. The founders of project are: - TCC - Tourism Competence Center - IBDIPC – International Business Development and Investment Promotion Center - Aksoy Group Ltd. – Director of the company, Mr. Erol Aksoy, is also the owner of Conrad Hilton Istanbul, assisting us in arranging the internships for our students at different hotels in Antalya and Istanbul (at Conrad Hilton). The vocational study courses were started in the following spheres:  Hotel administration  Restaurant Service Tour-operating / Tour Guides TARGET AUDIENCE - Employees at local Restaurants, Hotels who have a lack of qualification or service - Owners of restaurants and hotels who wish to train their personnel - 10th and 11th grade students – part of teenagers who were not able to enroll in universities (due to lack of finances etc.) will be given an opportunity to get the profession and be able to find the jobs in tourism sector which is one of the major and developing sector in Adjara region. - Un-employed youth The current customers/students can be divided in the following categories: - Already working at hotels/restaurants/tour companies - around 10 % - Individuals willing to get profession and involved in tourism sector - around 80 % - Corporate customers – hotels, restaurants, tour companies etc. - around 10 % OUTCOMES OF THE FIRST STAGE During 2006-2007 we have prepared 180 students: • Hotel administration - 145 students • Tour operating - 7 students • One group in Restaurant Service - 28 students The four students were from “Bakuri” hotel chain with whom we had an contract, one from SPUTNIK hotel and one from “Adjara Resorts” Ltd. (the affiliation of Silk Road Group – Kazakh investors group who bought 25 hotel facilities in Adjara). The majority of students were young people who had already received (or studying) higher education in other field, had work experience in different sectors and willing to get the new profession in hospitality sector in order to have a chance to find the jobs in this one of the perspective sectors of Adjara region. Parts of the students were working in different hotels/restaurants and wanted to improve the qualification. In study process there were involved both local teachers/trainers (who have work experience in this field, internships abroad etc.) and invited trainers from Tbilisi 50 students who do internship at different hotels in Turkey. From this:  15 students at Conrad Hilton Istanbul (which is one of the best business hotels in the world) in which our partner (Aksoy Group) is assisting us.  35 students did internships at different five stars hotels in Antalya. The internship period provide the students with a practical insight in tourism industry, helped them to gain hands on experience in hotel operations, adopting to new environment and making independent decision making, to improve team building and communication skills, to make familiar with high quality service standards and to get a chance to develop the skills necessary to be successful in hospitality sector