Instructor Profiles

David, who is British, has spent his entire career to date in the hospitality industry and has been fortunate to work extensively throughout Europe and North America.

Trained in Hotel and Resort Management, David has pursued both academic studies along with practical applications of the business. David gained his Masters Degree at Oxford University and has also majored in management and business studies alongside hospitality based accreditation.

Having worked for a number of large hotel chains such as Crest International, Hilton, Trust House Forte and Grand Metropolitan Hotel Group, David returned to university to gain academic qualification along side his extensive experience. During his career, David has held many key positions in all hospitality environments worldwide and his most recent commercial position as Director of Commercial Operations gave insight and opportunity to work at a strategic level. David has lectured at a number of British universities in restaurant management, culinary arts, marketing, business finance, human resource management, and organizational behaviour.

David has part ownership of a large and progressive hotel and conference centre in the South West of England and still enjoys the involvement this generates.

David has an energetic nature, outgoing personality and enthusiasm for the hospitality industry and enjoys working with a diverse student base.

David lives locally in An more with his wife and enjoys long walks, reading and entertaining.

David is pleased to be part of the instructor team at the Canadian Tourism College and believes the experience gained during his career gives his students the opportunity and belief to reach for the stars and beyond.  

I have thoroughly enjoyed my career as a Travel Professional and continue to seek ways to continue my education while building and maintaining the standards of this industry. It is a pleasure to participate in the lives of our students as they pursue their dream of a career in travel.

I became a member of Canadian Institute of Travel Counsellors (CITC) in 1978 and earned my Provincial Instructors Diploma in 2000.

In May 2008 I travelled to Toronto for the Annual General Meeting of CITC and was delighted to be recognized for my ongoing involvement in this organization by receiving the Al Muir Award for my "Outstanding Contribution to CITC" in 2007.

Canadian Tourism College has generously supported the UNICEF "Schools in Africa" program believing that education can and will change the fortunes of students in less prosperous nations. As a member of the UNICEF team I was privileged to be recognized in early 2008 with the "New Volunteer Award" for 2007. Our college has raised more than $6000.00 toward this worthy cause.  

Adriana had her first contact with the Tourism Industry in 1988 while living in Guatemala near the Mayan Archeological site of Tikal, where she became a tour guide for almost a year. In 1989 she did an internship at a travel agency in Costa Rica where she realized this was the industry she belongs in. After moving to Toronto in 1990 the next eight years included full time in a travel agency, night courses, a promotion to manager and her Diploma in Travel and Tourism.

On her return to Costa Rica (birthplace) she set her mind to working for an airline company and was hired by Continental Airlines working of as a reservations and city ticket office agent, trainer and fare auditor. This last position she held for five years and did more training for the company in 12 countries and was the main auditor for 22 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada. Adriana won recognition such as “Employee of the Year” and was acknowledged for nine years with perfect attendance.

Adriana moved to Vancouver in 2008 and worked as a dispatch agent for a local tour operator and after a few months was promoted to dispatch manager. She coordinated with tour guides, concierges, the public and suppliers every day. She moved to the FIT Department as manager and dealt with travel agencies abroad and Foreign Independent Travellers.

Adriana’s passion is teaching, sharing her knowledge and trying to make a positive impact in the early steps of others that like herself are drawn to the Tourism Industry. She began her teaching career as a part time Airline Customer Service Representative Instructor at Canadian Tourism College and in October 2010 joined our team as a full time instructor for the Travel and Tourism Diploma program at the Surrey Campus.

Adriana loves to learn about other cultures, encourage the students to talk about the places they have travelled and their cultural backgrounds. She loves to share her experiences with the students and making learning fun.

Anne has enjoyed a long rewarding career in the tourism industry dating from 1979. She combines continuing travel, formal education, and industry work experience to bring a timely, vital, and a relevant focus to the classroom. Anne has extensive experience in many areas of the tourism industry including Airline, Travel Agency, Sales, Cruise line, and education. Anne has successfully attained the Certified Travel Counsellor designation and an Instructor's Diploma from the Ministry of Education.

Anne is happy to be a part of a company which works with it's mission statement always in view and believes this philosophy, that we are "Creating Career Opportunities in a Changing World" and is the catalyst which gives her students the drive, skills, and belief that their dream career is attainable. In the classroom Anne combines this college philosophy, with the ambition to "teach with passion and compassion". Students will find her classroom a safe environment for the exchange of ideas, a place of fun and learning.

Bruce was born in Ontario. Early on, he and his family moved south of the border, taking up residence in Massachusetts, where Bruce spent his days exploring the forests and coastline of an area steeped in North American history. Later in childhood, Bruce and his family moved across the Atlantic to Stockholm and the remote waterways of Sweden, where he enjoyed trekking in the Alps and explorations throughout Europe. A few years later, Ontario beckoned again and back they went. Bruce spent his summers exploring the rivers and lakes of Canada. This included a 36-day canoe trip along the Missinabi and Fire rivers, where he first experienced the joys of remoteness and the camaraderie of travelling in a nomadic wilderness group.

Upon their return to Europe, Bruce's family settled in Geneva, Switzerland. The Swiss had the foresight to offer students every Thursday off from school to go skiing. This helped nurture Bruce's passion for exploring the mountains, glaciers and high peaks. During these years, he developed a thirst for adventure and a commitment to following his heart. Remoteness and wilderness were in his blood, so Bruce returned to Canada to experience North America's fresh-water sailing capital: Kingston, Ontario. Many days were spent honing his skills and knowledge of the wind and water, by sailboat and sailboard, while he pursued his studies at Queen's University. Once a degree was completed, Bruce's wanderlust struck again. The next three years were spent following the sun, wind and snow in such places as New Zealand, Australia, Greece, Switzerland, the Virgin Islands and California.

1989 was the year of the Volkswagen van and the move to BC to attend the Capilano College's Outdoor Recreation Management and Wilderness Leadership Certification program. This led to a job with BC Parks as a Back Country Ranger. During this time Bruce began working as an avalanche instructor and ski guide while developing and launching his first business, Sage Wilderness Experiences.

In 1990, the ocean kayak replaced the canoe as Bruce's watercraft of choice. This led to certification with the Association of Canadian Sea Kayak Guides and the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC, followed by the inception of the Canadian Federation of Ocean Kayak Educators and Harmonic Wilderness Travel. 

Bruce's guiding experiences include expedition-style tours in Alaska as an instructor with the National Outdoor Leadership School, several leadership courses on the Queen Charlotte Islands, as well as tours down the entire coast of BC and the west coast of Vancouver Island. Today, Bruce embraces several new challenges associated with being a professional guide, entrepreneur and outdoor educator. These include instructing for Capilano College, the University of British Columbia, the Canadian Tourism College, as well as curriculum design and implementation for high school outdoor education programs.

Bruce recently earned his Masters Degree in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads University in Victoria BC.. Guiding and educating are a way of life for Bruce, he continues to find the life style stimulating, fulfilling and ever-changing. Bruce's heart-felt love for wild places helps to facilitate his students' growth, skill development and appreciation for travelling in these fragile areas with empathy, knowledge and humility.

Bruce Wilson, MA

I have been instructing the Flight Attendant Program, at the Surrey campus of CTC, since January 2009.

At the age of 15, I was an immigrant to Canada, when my family and I settled in Calgary, Alberta. After finishing my schooling, I applied to Air Canada at the tender age of 18 and was hired as a Flight Attendant. That was the beginning of my life-style of traveling and experiencing what the world had to offer. Much to my own surprise, and indeed shock at how quickly time flies, I remained in the position of Flight Attendant for 30 years.

During that time span, I dappled in other areas, such as customer service, business owner, became a Certified Reflexologist and Certified Facilitator of a Personal Empowerment program. I also raised twin sons, and encouraged them to travel and see the world, as I believed that was one of the highest forms of education.

Throughout my career with Air Canada, I was able to experience a multitude of cultures, with International travel, and overcame many challenges within the industry, embracing every moment as an avenue for personal growth.

I continued to encourage my children to travel and to understand how truly the world is a small place, to learn from every experience and to have the courage to discover this for themselves.

I feel very fortunate now, to be working for Canadian Tourism College, where I have the opportunity to share my knowledge of In-Flight procedures and travel experiences. My present role as Flight Attendant Instructor is extremely fulfilling as I witness the transition of the students, over the 3-month course period. I see these young people emerge as confident individuals, ready to “spread their wings” and go forth with courage to explore the world we live in.

I had the wonderful experience of growing up in a Tourism oriented family with many miles of travel having been completed by my early teens. My parents owned and operated a very successful travel agency in Ontario, however, the cold winters and short summers led them to reconsidering their life style. The West Coast in their vision, they relocated to Vancouver. I attended Simon Fraser University for two years, majoring in Business Administration, however, the travel bug started to merge once again. My Father, having opened another travel agency in downtown Vancouver offered me a position working for him.

Tourism training at that time was limited with courses being held by individual companies within the industry. I gained by knowledge in airline tariffs and ticketing by several courses with Air Canada in Montreal, from there I trained with Via Rail and then gained on the job experience. Through the years I have worked for a number of different companies and have gained experience in various areas such as retail travel agency, group travel departments, leisure travel, corporate travel, tour escorting, in bound tour operations, meet and greet for several cruise ship companies such as Princess Cruises and Holland America, and adding to the list have opened and managed two travel agencies.

My introduction to Tourism Education came when I accepted a position as a tutor with the Open Learning Agency and then I found myself coaching and mentoring students through a Distance Learning environment. I joined the Canadian Travel School, now known as the Canadian Tourism College in 1991 and expanded my educational skills into the class room environment. I soon found this to be a most rewarding experience as I now could relate my many experiences to the students of my class. However, in order to maintain my professionalism as an Educator, I too, had to go back to school and work towards obtaining my Provincial Instructors Diploma which was accomplished in 1995.

Since I started teaching with the Canadian Tourism College, I have found many rewards in life, just seeing and hearing of the successes of my students in the industry and knowing I had a part in that happening is very overwhelming and fulfilling.