Growing Tahiti tourism

Student
Jennifer Clark

Home Country
Tahiti

New Zealand Short Term Training Scholarship Programme
New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) – Diploma in Tourism

Life before joining the New Zealand Short Term Training Scholarship Programme

Jennifer Clark is a Customer Service Agent working for Air Tahiti airline. She completed the NZQA Diploma in Tourism through the New Zealand Short Term Training Scholarship (NZSTTS).

Before applying for the New Zealand Scholarship and commencing her studies in Auckland, Jennifer studied at the University of French Polynesia achieving a Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism Management. During this time she was also able to gain work experience as an on-the-job trainee at Tahiti’s national airline.

Jennifer also has a Diploma in Sales and Business as well as a Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism Management. In New Zealand, prior to the Diploma in Tourism, she completed a Diploma of Travel and Tourism Management and graduated with the “Top Travel and Tourism Student Award.”

Experience as a student

Jennifer says that her main motivation for undertaking the scholarship is that the tourism industry in Tahiti is the cornerstone of the national economy and she wants to build on her already substantial industry knowledge.

“The tourism sector is the main factor of the economy in my country and it is a sector with a lot of job opportunities. The more qualified you are, the more companies will want to hire you. Moreover, with hard-work, you can grow within a company easily and gain a lot of experience which is helpful and a source of motivation and ambition.”

New skills and future plans

She says that there were many aspects of the NZQA Diploma that were beneficial:

“Everything that I studied during my course was important, starting from how to create a business, how to manage people, or how to provide excellent quality service to the customer. I was also interested in how tourism industries in other countries operate, particularly in New Zealand and Australia.”

Jennifer said that the NZQA Diploma in Tourism has helped to consolidate and expand on her previous tourism studies as well as improve her confidence:

“I could understand more about what I already learned in my previous course, which will be useful for me in the future. It helped me during my job interview (English speaking and writing) and when I had to write a letter to passengers or travel agencies. My English skills are definitely better and my colleagues say I am more confident now.”