More than 2,000 people embarked on Modern Apprenticeship courses in Scotland's hospitality and tourism sectors in the past year, helping to generate economic growth.

Skills Development Scotland revealed that the 2,112 apprentices were among the 20,000 created across the country during 2009-10 - above the 18,500 target set by the Scottish Government last year. The Scottish Government has provided an additional £16m of funding in 2009-10 to deliver new start apprentices, which have the opportunity to benefit from training while in fully-paid employment.

Among those to benefit from the Modern Apprenticeship scheme is The Torridon, a luxury resort near Achnasheen, north west Scotland, which has trained 14 new staff since 2006. Skills Development Scotland chair Willy Roe said: "This announcement shows in tangible terms what the Modern Apprenticeship and ScotAction programmes have been able to deliver for Scotland's people in a very challenging economic environment.

"Programmes like this allow us to assist Scottish businesses to develop their skills base at a point when they need to be at their most productive, as well as increasing employment opportunities for people across a wide range of sectors." The Scottish Government is committed to the Modern Apprenticeship scheme as part of a strategy to improve skills for Scottish businesses, with a further 15,000 starts planned for 2010-11.