College gets active in EU tourism role

ONE of Scotland's smallest vocational colleges is leading the development of training programmes to boost the skill levels of workers in the activity tourism market across the EU.

Oatridge College in West Lothian has been working with organisations in Spain, Malta, Romania and the Netherlands for the past year and has just received a second round of funding under the European Commission's Grundtvig Learning Partnership initiative.

The news comes just ahead of the first visit by partners to see what Scotland has to offer tourists keen to do more with their time than sightseeing.

Adrian Kitchen, director of business and curriculum development, who drew up the proposal, said: "People are looking for things to do on their holidays, whether it is mountain biking here in Scotland, pottery crafts in Malta or taking guided mountain walks in Spain."