MasterCard-U21 Global Scholarship Programme In 5th Year of Empowering Women Executives

MasterCard Worldwide and U21Global Graduate School today announced the fifth year of the MasterCard-U21Global scholarship programme for women in the travel and tourism industry. Launched in 2006, the programme aims to empower women executives through education to realize their full potential.

Comprised of 20 scholarships for the U21Global Postgraduate Diploma of Business Administration, the programme is intended for graduates who want to develop skills in the management and marketing of tourism and travel products and programmes. It is designed to provide participants with a solid foundation in core management subjects, and is aimed at providing students with a firm grounding in basic management capabilities. Core subjects include Organizational Behaviour, Finance, Marketing Management and Strategic Management.

The course can articulate into the University of Nottingham MSc in Tourism and Travel Management, which has been developed by Christel DeHaan Tourism and Travel Research Institute, a part of Nottingham University Business School, and U21Global, a leader in quality graduate online education for working executives and professionals.

Eighty women have been awarded the scholarship to date, with the scholars coming from a broad spectrum of the industry, from hotels and airlines to travel and tour operators. The first batch of women graduated from the programme last year, while 9 women are set to graduate this year. All of them are upbeat about their career prospects, recognising the value the programme has ingrained in them as professionals.

Chief Executive Officer of U21Global Graduate School, Nick Hutton, said:

Empowering women with management and leadership skills that immediately add value to their contributions at work has always been the aim of MasterCard Worldwide and U21Global. We are very encouraged by the positive responses and feedback from the students and graduates.

Despite the global economic crisis, H1N1 and other challenges, we see huge growth opportunities in tourism. The UN World Tourism Organisation expects the international tourism arrivals to grow by 3 to 4 per cent this year, and Asia to lead the trend with a growth of at least 5 per cent.¹ The scholarship by MasterCard Worldwide and U21Global will help prepare these talented women for the massive growth in the tourism industry.

The 20 scholarships are made possible by a grant from MasterCard Worldwide and U21Global. Recipients of the scholarship can enjoy the benefit of studying online and can hence better manage their work and educational commitments.

Director of Board and Foundations Relations, PATA Foundation, Ratana Poopitakchatkaew, said:

The PATA foundation recognizes that the MasterCard-U21 programme is of great support to the travel and tourism industry and serves to address an important issue the industry is facing – that of developing a skilled workforce who will bring back their knowledge and expertise to the business. Building upon this, there is an increasing need for the private sector to be more involved in the process of raising standards for the industry.

Organizations from the travel and tourism industry across Asia/Pacific, South Asia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and UAE are invited to nominate female employees. MasterCard and U21Global will institute a distinguished panel of judges to choose the 20 worthy recipients. Those interested in more information on the scholarships and course components can log on to U21Global’s website http://www.u21global.edu.sg/mastercard.