Inside BlueSky’s Travel Scandinavia Course

BlueSky teacher Gabra Lokken has been with BlueSky for nine years and in that time she has explored many different exciting courses. Every course we offer here at BlueSky is meant to educate, excite, and spark our students’ curiosities. This semester, Gabra and the BlueSky team set their sights on Scandinavia for our latest elective offering. Travel with us through the Scandinavian countries through BlueSky’s Travel Scandinavia course. 

Why Scandinavia? 

Although we are virtual and open to students around the country, BlueSky is based here in Minnesota. The state of Minnesota has the highest population of Scandinavian descendants in comparison to other US states with 1.5 million descendants of Scandinavia calling Minnesota home. Minneapolis is also home to Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish cultural centers. We think it’s important to dive into different cultures and being that many Minnesotans are of Scandinavian descent, we thought it’d be a great opportunity to learn more about Scandinavian history and culture.

Tourism and Hospitality Career Preparation 

The course was established when we found that the Department of Education was showing that the hospitality and tourism industry was in need of more professionals. Tourism and hospitality is an exciting career path that many students here at BlueSky are curious about – so we set off to create a course that would help to prepare students for what they could expect in such a career. Beyond those interested in a career in tourism and hospitality though, the course gives students the insights they would need to travel internationally. 

Course Lessons

The Travel Scandinavia course starts by teaching students basic travel essentials like how to get a passport, lessons on currency differences and time zones, and even how to avoid jet lag. Starting off with international travel preparation, the course then dives into Scandinavian language lessons and communication skill development which is essential for travel and for a career in the industry. They will do some career investigation to really determine if they have an interest in tourism and hospitality. 

The course teaches multiple skills including web design, marketing, communications, and itinerary planning. 

Final Project

Every assignment and lesson in the Travel Scandinavia course leads up to the final project of the semester. The project is to compile all assignments into a fully functioning travel website. The website that is created by students at the end of the course includes five tours around each of the Scandinavian countries and a longer multi-country Scandinavian tour. 

We are always seeking to provide exciting and educational courses for our students. To learn more about BlueSky course offerings, contact us!