**PRESS RELEASE**

Brooklyn, N.Y.- Dr. Regina S. Peruggi, President of Kingsborough Community College and Dr. Stuart Schulman, Chairperson of the Tourism and Hospitality Department are pleased to announce the second phase of the first partnership in the Northeast between the academic world and the cruise industry and one of the first academic-industry partnership certification programs to take place at the College.

The creation of a Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA) certification program for both the travel agent community and KCC students studying toward their associate degree in tourism and hospitality has valuable real life industry applications.

“This CLIA partnership allows the college to train tomorrow’s travel industry workforce leaders, while offering today’s professional workforce community the opportunity to refine their skills,” stated President Peruggi.

“Strategic alliances are commonplace in the industry. Therefore, it was a natural choice to join forces with CLIA as a respected industry leader for the mutual benefit of the academic community and the travel industry at large,” stated Dr. Stuart Schulman.

Dr. Adrienne Biel, a former airline marketing executive who now heads the transportation elective of the Tourism and Hospitality Department and who was instrumental in the development of the program says, “the unique interaction of the agents can offer our students a real life perspective on the industry and the possibility of future internship programs and employment recruitment opportunities.”

The Kingsborough hospitality and tourism students are educated with the technical, communication and quality service skills they need to succeed in the travel industry. Students are required to have 100 hours of internship in their field of choice, which includes cruises, hospitality, meeting planning, aviation management, and tourism.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz kicked off the program in the Spring semester with a Cruise Day sponsored by the department with major cruise lines such as RCCL, Celebrity, Carnival, Holland America, Windstar, and Norwegian Cruise Line in attendance. The Borough President is committed to the development of the Travel and Tourism Program for Brooklyn and is strong advocate for a cruise homeport in the borough.

The classes provide CLIA certification for both students and travel agents and include Principles of Professional Selling, Power Selling Techniques, and Introduction to Cruise Vacations, Psychology of Selling and Cruise Geography. Students earn an Associate Cruise Degree Certificate, which can be applied towards a Master Certification. Classes begin November 12 and will be offered again in the Spring 2005 semester.

For further information about the program, contact the Tourism and Hospitality Department at Kingsborough Community College at
718-368-5143 or CLIA at 212-921-0066.

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Kingsborough Community College (KCC) located in Brooklyn, New York, serves approximately 30,000 credit and continuing education students per year. Kingsborough
is located on a 70-acre waterfront campus in Manhattan Beach, on the southern peninsula of Brooklyn. Founded in 1963, Kingsborough is one of twenty colleges in the City University of New York (CUNY) system, the third largest system in the United States