STUDENTS have swapped one resort for another to find out why people are flocking to a Spanish destination.

First and Second Year pupils from Weymouth College’s BTEC National Diploma in Travel and Tourism visited Salou in Spain to find out what makes it so special.

College lecturer Tonia Fisher said the resort in Catalonia had increased its visitor numbers to make it the most visited resort in Spain, overtaking Benidorm.

She added: “We had a talk and presentation with the Salou tourist board and they explained their marketing and promotional campaign, which included visitor figures and customer markets. They also explained why they believe they are the top destination in Spain and how they have achieved this.

“It was very interesting.”

The trip was compulsory for First Tear tourism students because it links to their residential unit.

Tonia added: “It also links to other units such as reps, Europe, visitor attractions, handling air passengers, tour ops, cabin crew and customer service.

“As a destination, Salou has the scope to appeal to a variety of visitors, for example, city break customers visiting Barcelona, families visiting the beach and the theme park, Port Aventura and older customers visiting the cultural city of Tarragona.”

Second Year student Zack Simons said: “It was amazing and the best trip ever.”

Since returning, the students have had to evaluate and peer assess their participation in the trip so they can complete the unit. The college has reported success with its Second Year tourism students who completed a two-week work experience placement in April.

More than half have been offered employment and most of them will start jobs in the travel and tourism sector before they leave Weymouth College.

Many of the students have been offered jobs in the industry due to the college’s employer links or through their work experience.

Seven of them have chosen to continue their studies at university on degrees such as cruise management at the University of Plymouth, business management at Liverpool University, international tourism management at Brighton University, and travel and tourism management at Guildford University.

Next year, tourism students will visit Italy and take in Lake Garda, Verona and Venice.