The current endowment Tourism Cares administers, which includes both the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and the National Tour Association (NTA) Scholarship Funds, totals more than US$1.7 million. There are 56 scholarship awards this year, totaling more than US$81,000, representing a range from US$1,000 to US$5,000.

Undergraduate and graduate students may now apply for up to two scholarships through the Tourism Cares website, www.tourismcares.org/scholarships , which links to the Tourism Cares STARS online scholarship application platform. Both the website and STARS provide scholarship descriptions, eligibility criteria, and requested documents. The application deadline for the Tourism Cares Academic Scholarships is Monday, March 22, 2010 at 5:00 pm EDT. Scholarship recipients will be announced in May.

The Tourism Cares scholarship awards help support the advanced education of the future workforce of the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry, which is vitally important to maintaining a high level of professionalism in the industry. All academic scholarship recipients are invited to participate in the Tourism Cares Experience, the Industry Student Program at the National Tour Association's Convention held during the week of November 13, 2010 in MontrĂŠal, QuĂŠbec, Canada. At the event, students shadow mentors, who are travel industry veterans, during business appointments; participate in discussions about career paths; and take advantage of networking and learning opportunities.

Pamela Johnson of Purdue University, and winner of the Princess Cruises Scholarship, was among one of the students who participated in the Experience the Industry Student Program last fall. “I was given the amazing opportunity to travel to Reno for the NTA Convention. While I was there, I participated in every activity and opportunity that I possibly could,” said Pamela. “My favorite part was meeting so many people with such a strong passion for the hospitality and tourism industry. The experience has definitely changed me, because I learned so much about this segment of the industry and possible career paths that I never knew before.”

In March, Tourism Cares will be opening its 2010 Professional Development Scholarship opportunities.

Tourism Cares is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity that benefits society by preserving the travel experience for future generations by giving grants to cultural, historic, and natural sites worldwide: by awarding academic, professional development, and service-learning scholarships to students of travel, tourism, and hospitality; and by organizing volunteer restoration events at tourism-related sites in need of care and rejuvenation. For additional information on Tourism Cares, please visit www.tourismcares.org .

Autor: eTurboNews