CATT

CATT: The Tourism School Without Walls

Travel and tourism is the world’s fastest-growing sector. It offers a wide variety of education and career opportunities for young people. For nearly 30 years, the Canadian Academy of Travel and Tourism has helped secondary school teachers and students explore these opportunities through a flexible suite of educational resources easily integrated into any high school curriculum.

Benefits for Educators

Integration

Teachers can engage students in the subject  of tourism while continuing with their current  high school curriculum.

Enrichment

Schools receive access to helpful online and  downloadable teaching resources and suggested  learning activities.

Partnership

Teachers connect with local tourism representatives  to arrange experiential learning opportunities.

CATT Program Overview

The CATT program consists of eight modules and two Tourism Capstone Projects that allow students to develop transferable and essential skills that are invaluable to the tourism sector. Teachers may use the full suite of resources or only those that complement their tourism program goals.

Module 1: Discover Tourism

This module reveals the breadth and depth of the tourism industry, and the wide range of career opportunities, providing students with exploratory opportunities to discover tourism.

Module 6: Tourism Health and Safety

This module describes health and safety in a tourism context, with opportunities for students to research, discuss and then understand the importance of health and safety in tourism operations.

Module 2: Tourism Workplace Essentials

This module describes the essential core skills and competencies required in tourism, providing students with exercises that reinforce those skills and competencies.

Module 7: Tourism Career Planning

This module provides students with exercises, resources, and tools to identify career goals, take stock of interests, values, skills, and experiences, and then create a plan to achieve career goals.

Module 3: Tourism Service Excellence

This module examines the ingredients of excellent customer service in a tourism context, offering exercises for students to discover and learn the skills to deliver outstanding service.

Module 8: Tourism Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

This module reveals the key principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion, how they apply in the workplace, and helps students understand their role in promoting inclusion.

Module 4: Sustainable Tourism

This module describes the essential element of responsible, sustainable tourism, giving the students opportunities to research and reflect on a wide range of sustainable tourism principles and practices.

CATT Tourism Capstone Project #1

This Capstone pulls together key learning from — and demonstrates understanding of — the first five modules (Discover Tourism, Tourism Workplace Essentials, Tourism Service Excellence, Sustainable Tourism, and Promoting Tourism Experiences).

Module 5: Promoting Tourism Experiences

This module explores how to market and sell tourism destinations, experiences, and services effectively across the accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, recreation and entertainment, and travel services industries.

CATT Tourism Capstone Project #2

This Capstone pulled together key learning from — and demonstrates understanding of — all CATT modules.

Module 1: Discover Tourism

This module reveals the breadth and depth of the tourism industry, and the wide range of career opportunities, providing students with exploratory opportunities to discover tourism.

Module 2: Tourism Workplace Essentials

This module describes the essential core skills and competencies required in tourism, providing students with exercises that reinforce those skills and competencies.

Module 3: Tourism Service Excellence

This module examines the ingredients of excellent customer service in a tourism context, offering exercises for students to discover and learn the skills to deliver outstanding service.

Module 4: Sustainable Tourism

Module 5: Promoting Tourism Experiences

Module 6: Tourism Health and Safety

This module describes health and safety in a tourism context, with opportunities for students to research, discuss and then understand the importance of health and safety in tourism operations.

Module 7: Tourism Career Planning

This module provides students with exercises, resources, and tools to identify career goals, take stock of interests, values, skills, and experiences, and then create a plan to achieve career goals.

Module 8: Tourism Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

This module reveals the key principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion, how they apply in the workplace, and helps students understand their role in promoting inclusion.

CATT Tourism Capstone Project #1

CATT Tourism Capstone Project #2

This Capstone pulled together key learning from — and demonstrates understanding of — all CATT modules.

The opportunities that CATT will give me promise new experiences and options for my future that I could have never dreamed of otherwise. I am extremely excited to broaden my knowledge of such a fascinating program and I am excited to see where the journey will take me!”
- C. A., Canadian Academy of Travel and Tourism Student

Curious as to the types of activities CATT offers?

Preview a Sample Activity

Have a sneak peek at the types of classroom activities included in the CATT curriculum package.

Program Levels

The Canadian Academy of Travel & Tourism program can be offered at three levels, each with its own national certificate.

Tourism Foundations Certificate

The Tourism Foundations Certificate is focused on incorporating the CATT curriculum materials and learning outcomes. Students will:

Tourism Essentials Certificate

The Tourism Essentials Certificate is focused on introducing students to the tourism industry and gaining recognition for completing minimum requirements. Students will:

Complete 5 CATT Modules and 1 Capstone Project.
Undertake a minimum 60 hours of tourism volunteer or paid work experience.
Participate in at least one tourism career workshop (coordinated with Tourism HR Canada).
Obtain at least one tourism-related certificate (i.e., safe food service, customer service).

Tourism Advanced Certificate

The Tourism Advanced Certificate is the most comprehensive program and is intended for learners who are interested in pursuing post-secondary tourism training or employment. Students will:

Complete 8 Modules and 2 Capstone Projects.
Undertake a minimum 180 hours of tourism volunteer or paid work experience.
Participate in at least one tourism career workshop (coordinated with Tourism HR Canada).
Obtain at least one tourism-related certificate (i.e., safe food service, customer service).

Benefits for Students

With the support and guidance of educators and industry partners, the program provides high school students across the country with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to succeed in the working world and post-secondary endeavours.   

Students acquire a relevant knowledge base essential in today’s fast-paced and demanding learning environment. Additional experiential learning options, careers presentations, and industry connections allow students to explore what pathway best suits their interests and aptitudes. The added value of industry certificates and real-world practical workplace experience gives CATT students a competitive edge.

CATT is the proud Canadian member of the Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP)

An international network of travel and tourism education.  

CATT schools gain access to numerous GTTP educational resources, plus bonus courses offered by its global partners. Schools can also participate in student competitions that encourage an understanding of tourism’s impact from the local to the global level.

For more information on the Canadian Academy of Travel and Tourism or to register your high school, please fill out this contact form.

Tourism HR Canada thanks Immigration, Science and Economic Development Canada for its contribution to the redesign of the CATT program through the Tourism Relief Fund: National Priorities Stream.