An uplifting Saturday with young minds

Aaron Hung, the lecturer and a regular WIT-Web In Travel attendee had hoped I would inspire these young minds to look at travel in a new light - that it's not just about low-paying travel agency and service jobs in hospitality - but that it actually covers a whole gamut of job types requiring different skill sets because as someone once said, "Tourism is everybody's business."

I think though I ended up learning more about them.

Here's what I learnt.

Most of them know what they want already. One girl, who I can see is destined for a corporate career, said her goal was to start working for a multinational "because it is easier to leave them".

What she meant was she could work through five major branded companies in say 10 years and at the end of it, have a great resume to show for it. I recall Arthur Kiong, now with Banyan Tree marketing, telling me early on in his career many years ago that you had to "architect your resume".

Another said she wanted to start with a small company because "in big companies, you can get spoiled and after that, it's hard to move out". She also felt that in big companies, it was harder to be different. "I think I can stand out more in a small company."

Yet another said it was the practical thing to do - to start your career with big companies so that by the time you decide to start your own business, you would have more credibility and people would take you more seriously.

When I asked them whether they liked to travel, almost all put up their hands except one young man. So I asked him why not? He said he liked to travel but it was a matter of costs. "I don't consider short trips to Bangkok, for example, travel. For me, travel is going to Europe or the US, long way away."

Which prompted one feisty girl to say, "I disagree. It's all travel, whether it's short distance or long distance. I want to travel and explore Asia first, before I go further, anyway."

Of course I then had to share my belief that sometimes travel does not even have to involve physical movement, that it can take place in the mind. And that every trip you make, whether near or far, is different because of the people you meet and the different experiences you have. I have been to Bangkok perhaps 50 times and I will return there this week and each time, I enjoy it differently.

One young man wanted to know how if he wanted to start a business in travel, what should his first steps be?

Another young man wanted to know why in schools and universities, "we are not given the impression that travel and tourism is a career, like banking or legal or medicine. Yet when I read and listen to industry people speak, I can see it can be an attractive career option. Does something need to be done about this?"

All in, it turned out to be a very good Saturday. Firstly, this travel and tourism class is one these students have opted for- which means they want to be there, rather than have to be there. Secondly, these students, some of whom were part of the team who worked on WITCast at WIT 2009, had lots of questions and no problems expressing themselves - who said Asians were reserved?

This generation - the first global generation of digital natives - is going to lift the travel game in Asia, provided we know how to engage them and keep them.

As for me, I am already discussing the next WIT student project with them.