Hats off to our future tourism leaders

Last month we were delighted to celebrate our third student graduation! After two years of study, 14 Adventure Tourism students and 35 Hospitality Management students finally got the chance to receive their diplomas, throw their hats in the air and pat themselves on the back for all their hard work. After the formal graduation ceremony, staff, students, family and friends got together up at QRC Lodge, our newly acquired Halls of Residence, to celebrate with a few glasses of bubbles.

Our CEO Charlie Phillips is delighted with the calibre of the graduating students.

“After getting to know these students I feel confident in saying that New Zealand’s future in the adventure tourism and hospitality industries looks extremely bright with the wealth of very talented and motivated young people going out into the work force,” he says.

“They’re world class professionals ready to hit the ground running and I think they’ll really make a difference to our industry both here and overseas.”

QRC launches first snowsports business management course in Southern Hemisphere

As part of our partnership with NZSki, we’ve just launched the first Snowsports Business Management course in the Southern Hemisphere.

We now offer New Zealand’s only Diploma of Adventure Tourism Management specialising in snowsports management aimed at producing graduates who are not only passionate about the industry but have strong business skills. As part of their diploma, our students are guaranteed two work placements at New Zealand’s premier ski areas Coronet Peak, The Remarkables or Mt Hutt over two winter seasons. Graduates of our two-year course will have a solid understanding of the day-to-day operations and seasonality of a ski resort and will be well equipped with the skills and qualifications to progress in career pathways in a competitive, challenging and exciting global industry.

QRC establishes regional offices overseas

Another exciting development is our new regional offices in South East Asia and India. While the majority of our students come from New Zealand, overseas demand has increased enough for us to start establishing regional offices in key areas.

Adrian Soo has been appointed as Regional Manager of the South East Asia office and Prateek Gujral will manage the India office. Both recently spent some time in Queenstown training with Duncan Sadleir, our International Marketing & Recruitment Manager, and getting to know our staff and students.

Adrian and Prateek will be responsible for training and liaising with QRC’s network of registered agents and ensuring students transition smoothly from their home country to New Zealand. For South East Asia contact Adrian Soo at adrian.soo@qrc.ac.nz or for India contact Prateek Gujral at prateek.gujral@qrc.ac.nz.

Recipe for success

It’s a sell out! Demand for our new 2-day Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Intermediate course which launched on 6 April was absolutely huge and all places filled quicker than expected.

The Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) is the foremost international body in the field of wine and spirits education, with its formal qualifications recognised in 40 countries around the world.

QRC’s WSET courses are led by Paul Tudgay, sommelier and QRC tutor. He says they appeal to a wide range of wine enthusiasts from around the region and expects they will become a popular fixture in hospitality education.

“The courses cater for everyone; from those working in hotels and restaurants to cellar door and winery workers, viticulturists and wine aficionados who simply want to broaden their horizons. If you want to take things further, it’s also the first step on the path to the ultimate qualification, the Master of Wine.”

Course feedback was extremely positive with one student commenting “It’s an amazing course and a great opportunity to taste and get to know a variety of international wines. I learnt a lot and this course took me to the next level I needed for my wine knowledge.”

Our next WSET course will be offered in July and bookings are being taken now so get in quick to avoid disappointment.

And while we’re on the subject of wine….QRC recently held a series of winemakers’ tastings and presentations at the Book Café which attracted 60 people a week for six weeks. Winemakers included Brent Marris of Marisco Wines, Grant Taylor of Valli and Matt Dicey of Mt Difficulty.

We also offered a rare tasting of Champagne Duval Leroy in the Book Café, including a wine from the famously good 1996 vintage. You just had to be there...

QRC Chairman and Founder awarded Senior New Zealander of the Year

We’re extremely proud and delighted for our chairman and founder, Sir Eion Edgar, recognised earlier this year as the Ryman Healthcare Senior New Zealander of the Year in a national awards ceremony.

Sir Eion, 65, won the award for his lifetime of philanthropic service. Apart from his tireless work for QRC, he’s also involved with a full range of education, youth, health, community trusts and financial organisations of which he is either chairman, trustee or board member.

Our CEO Charlie Phillips summed up our feelings best:

“The faith, financial support and personal involvement Sir Eion has shown in QRC has been amazing. His positive and proactive way of handling everything makes him a very special person and one we all admire. Without Sir Eion, QRC and many other enterprises would not exist. New Zealand is a better place with him in it.”

Teachers from around NZ and Australia check out QRC

Recently a group of career advisors and tourism and outdoor education teachers from secondary schools around New Zealand and Australia visited Queenstown to learn more about our tourism programmes and why we feel Queenstown is the best place to offer them.

The group of 25 started their day with a tour of the facility, followed by a briefing on our Hospitality Management diploma, our Adventure Tourism Management diploma and our newest programme, Snowsport Business Management.

The group then headed off to check out Queenstown's newest adventure activity, Ziptrek Ecotours, a flying fox eco-adventure located in the forest atop the Skyline Gondola. They were able to experience firsthand the day-to-day action and operations that our five QRC Adventure Tourism Management interns and two QRC graduates are getting to do.

The day finished off with a student-hosted BBQ dinner up at QRC Lodge and nature even laid on a spectacular sunset over The Remarkables mountain range.

This teacher familiarisation trip is an annual event so if any tourism, hospitality, outdoor education or careers staff feel they would benefit from this, please email Sarah Cairns for more details.

Graduates abroad

The bond between QRC and partner ICMS (International College of Management, Sydney) continues to strengthen as more students than ever head across the ditch to complete their studies.

Every year the number of QRC graduates enrolling into the Bachelor of Business Administration in Hospitality Management in Manly is growing and from all accounts they’re thriving! As part of our partnership with ICMS, once students complete their Diploma of Hospitality Management at QRC they only need to complete another 12 months study to obtain their degree.

QRC Adventure Tourism Management students are now also able to join their Hospitality Management counterparts at ICMS to complete the final year of a Bachelor of International Tourism Management.

We caught up with a few QRC graduates at ICMS (pictured from left): Cory Walker, Taronish Pardiwalla, Adam Tomlinson, Phoebe Zwarts, Steve Yang.

Graduate sets sights on sailing overseas

Since graduating with a Diploma of Hospitality Management last year, Sophie Gibbs has had her sights set on making her dreams come true. The 24-year old left New Zealand for France and worked as a sole steward on “MM”, a 30m superyacht owned by top European financier Carsten Maschmeyer which he built for his 16-year old son Maurice.

Sophie was chef to the crew, her boss Maurice Maschmeyer and his guests as well as looking after all the cabins. Some of her most memorable moments aboard were watching the Monaco Grand Prix and crossing the Mediterranean for the first time.

Sophie believes her time at QRC has stood her in good stead.

"You get hands-on experience from QRC and lots of five-star experience, which is great because you have to be so professional in this field."

Jetting into the world of adventure tourism

Diploma of Adventure Tourism Management student Emma Hanson is back at QRC for her final six months of study after completing a fantastic internship with GC Jet Ski Tours on Australia’s Gold Coast.

All Adventure Tourism diploma students are required to complete a fully paid six-month internship and 900 hours of work before they can graduate.

Emma’s day to day role for GC Jet Ski Tours included taking bookings, dealing with customers, conducting safety briefings and cleaning and refuelling the jet skis. She even got to ‘tail guide’ on jet ski tours - not bad for someone who had never ridden a jet ski before starting this job!

The 19-year old says the internship was an amazing experience.

“I really wanted to go to Australia, I’d always wanted to ride jet skis, and I definitely wanted a hands-on job so when this opportunity came up it sounded perfect. I loved every minute of it – it was heaps of fun and I got to meet lots of people. I even took out Harry Connick Jr and his family out on a jet ski tour.”

Emma has been offered a job with the company after she graduates and is planning to sit her coxswain qualification so that she can become a full jet ski guide.