A STAY in a five-star hotel has given indigenous youth a taste for the tourism industry.

Enjoying the facilities at the Pacific International Hotel this week was all part of a new training program in Cairns that aims to get indigenous youth interested in a tourism career.

Including kids from Cape York, the Torres Strait, Cooktown and Cairns, the program is called "Tourism Too Deadly".

A group of 30 indigenous kids, identified as having an interest in tourism, has just finished a five-day session in Cairns.

Tourism Too Deadly spokeswoman Judy Freeman said it was the first time a program had been developed for indigenous youths.

"This project gives them what is almost pre-work experience activity and has been carefully crafted to match their needs," she said.

"It’s all about developing an aspiration in their minds, showing them before they have to choose their traineeships and building up tourism as a viable option for a future career."

The students have been chosen by their schools and wrote their own proposals on why they should be accepted into the program.

"They are telling us they want to come on the program to find out what it is really like to work in the tourism industry in Cairns," she said.

"They know they will come out of it with a better understanding of what is involved in the local tourism industry, so they can focus on what career path they would really like to develop."

The Cairns tourism sector, including 15 major tour operators, has supported Tourism Too Deadly.

Tourism Queensland regional director Jeff Gillies, which is administering the project, said there were benefits for both indigenous communities and the industry.

"There is a lot of interest in both international and domestic markets in indigenous tourism," he said.

Share this article