A holiday company which helped Croatia remodel itself as a holiday resort has awarded work placements to four students over the summer.

Holiday Options in The Martlets, Burgess Hill, handpicked the students from Brighton and Hove VI Form College (Bhasvic) in Dyke Road, Brighton.

The four-month placement forms part of the students' one-year leisure and tourism course and will gain them experience in sales, marketing and administration.

The students, aged 16 to 17, will begin by working for one day a week until June before committing full-time for two months over their summer holiday.

Catherine Buck, 16, from Patcham, said: "Demand for placements in this area far outstrips supply and competition is tough. I was delighted when I was offered the place.

"I applied to Holiday Options because I was inspired by its pioneering activity with Croatia back when no other operators were interested.

Holiday Options has become the UK's market leader to Croatia, taking more holidaymakers there than any other tour operator.

In 1999, shortly after the end of the Balkans conflict, the company tapped into the former war zone, introducing customers to resorts along the coastline and the islands. Since then the 60-strong company has become a specialist in Croatia, operating its own charter flights to Split and Dubrovnik from Gatwick and eight regional airports.

Holiday Options has recently taken over the fourth floor of The Martlets, a tower building in the centre of Burgess Hill, and now occupies three floors in total.

Chairman Jonathan Oakes said: "Tourism is now the world's largest industry and we are delighted to help good local students take their first step into this challenging environment."

Privately-owned Holiday Options, which also operates in Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily, said it aimed to have vacancies for the four students once they finished their course later this year.

Wednesday May 11, 2005