BANKIES looking for a new career path are being urged to consider taking on a Scottish tourism course in the town.

The call comes from Gayle Turnbull, a lecturer in travel and tourism at West College Scotland’s Clydebank campus, amid concerns that employers are “crying out” for staff as a result of Covid and Brexit.

Gayle will lead a new ‘Skills in Scottish Tourism’ course, starting at the Queens Quay campus in January.

She said: “Students and potential students, and parents of students, have been really put off taking on tourism courses over the last year due to Covid.

“What we’re trying to get across is that the industry is bouncing back, and it will bounce back bigger than ever.

“We’re trying to make students as employment-ready as possible and the Skills in Scottish Tourism course was created in response to employers, who are really struggling to get employees that have the right skills.”

Students who enrol in the course will learn a diverse range of skills from customer care to how the industry is structured, planning itineraries, and learning where tourists visit and looking into developing markets such as activity, wildlife, ancestral and sustainable tourism.

Gayle added: “The Scottish tourism sector is such a fast-growing sector. There’s been a big focus on us travelling in our own country and it’s a much more sustainable way to travel.

“In Scottish tourism at the moment, and hospitality especially, there is a big demand for workers.”

To find out more, visit westcollegescotland.ac.uk.