FOUR of the territory's first batch of secondary school Travel and Tourism graduates were awarded scholarships recently, two years after the subject was introduced in local schools.
The awards came at a time when interest in tourism has grown with the territory receiving its 10 millionth overseas visitor last year, setting a new record. Eleven more secondary schools introduced the subject to their students last September.
The awardees, all 17-year-olds, are currently taking travel-related courses at the Haking Wong Technical Institute. Each received $10,000 from the Travel and Tourism Education Programme (TTEP) and New World Hotels International.
They were selected for both their aptitude and enthusiasm to contribute to the field.
Winnie Kwok Wai, for example, aims to open up 'a new chapter for women' in the industry.
'I want to prove that women can tackle the work in a Chinese kitchen equally well as men. At the moment, Chinese restaurants are dominated by male chefs,' said Winnie, who is one of the only two girls taking Restaurant and Catering Operations (Chinese Style) at the institute.
'It's not easy, though. I can still remember how heavy the restaurant wok felt the first time I used it.' Both Erica Yeung Pik-ngan and Lilian Ong Ching-lee want to be tour co-ordinators in the future.
