James Cole Awarded Honorary Fellowship

On Monday 5 December 2016, James Cole; UCLan alumni was awarded an honorary fellowship in acknowledgement of his contribution to the tourism industry.

James works closely with UCLan and our International Tourism Management degree, giving the division exclusive rights to the graduate scheme at Cruise118. In addition to this, we’ve had many students going to work for the organisation as part of a work placement.

Dr. Carley Sutton, Course leader said:

"It has been great to form a partnership with James, he is able to provide industry relevance and experience to all our students through work placements and guest lectures. His generosity with the division has allowed our students to become more employable through the knowledge and experience he provides”

Cruise118 was founded by James Cole and Mal Barritt in 2008, it has since become one of the U.K's fastest growing retailers and by 2010, it entered into a partnership with U.S travel retailer, World Travel Holdings.

UCLan Graduate, Bethany Higson is currently on the graduate scheme and she said:

"I absolutely love working for Cruise118, and I’ve had so many opportunities and experiences since I started 18 months ago. I have worked in Customer Service, HR, Finance, Events and Marketing, eventually choosing to go onto Customer Service to become a Team Leader, looking after the Administration side of things. When I started I didn’t have the first clue about Cruising, but you soon pick up knowledge about the cruise lines, destinations, attractions and market trends! I’d say my highlights would be the opportunities to visit the ships. I’ve been on two ship visits since I have started, and have got one (maybe two) cruises booked for myself next year. There is definitely opportunity for anybody who is ambitious and hard-working, Cruise118 reward those who put in the effort"

Student Profile of one of the Speakers from the Alumni Event - Bethany Higson

This is Bethany, she was one of our guest speakers for the Alumni Event for the third year Tourism students. Bethany graduated last year in International Tourism Management with a first class degree! Below Bethany talks about what she 's been up to since she graduated from UCLan.

"I’d say I’ve had a very productive time since I graduated from UCLan! I started working almost immediately after I finished my last assignment, starting my career in a Management Graduate Scheme at World Travel Holdings UK. I have had the fantastic opportunity to experience each department in a thriving, expanding business in the Travel industry. This has very much opened my eyes to how fast-paced the industry is. I have now progressed in becoming a Customer Service Team Leader, a position which I am very excited to hold and develop myself in. I am also running the Internship and Graduate Scheme programmes beginning in 2016, so I encourage all those wishing to start their career and gain experience in the real world to apply – you will not regret it!"