A NEW course dubbed 'The Tourist Experience' is hoping to equip local people with the skills and desire to fill tourism job vacancies in the area.

The free course, being run in Barrow in February, is a joint initiative of the Greengate Communty Development Centre in Barrow, The Furness Tourism Partnership and Cumbria Tourist Board.

According to Penny Knowles, of the Furness Tourism Partnership, there are routinely 200 tourist jobs advertised at a time in Barrow Job Centre.

But she said many people were not going for the vacancies because they either did not have the skills or dismissed them because of the characterisation of hotel and catering jobs as badly paid with poor working conditions.

The course aimed to address both issues and "promote the good careers in tourism," said Miss Knowles.

Students will gain a CLAIT IT certificate, Basic Health & Safety and Welcome Host qualifications.

At the end of the programme, there will be a job fair with local tourism employers present to recruit the students.

Cath Fair, of Cumbria Tourist Board, believed the course strategy and attendant job fair was the right medicine for the industry's staffing shortages.

"We've run job fairs on the West Coast that have been fantastically successful.

We've placed 20 people from Whitehaven, Workington area to Keswick for work and it's proving very successful," she said.

Anyone interested in the course, which begins on February 15, should contact Penny Knowles on 01229 580742.