November 18, 2019 – Croatian students closed out the 32nd annual conference of the European Association of Schools in Hotel and Tourism with three gold medals, two silver, and five bronze.
Last week, Split hosted the 32nd annual AEHT (European Association of Hotel and Tourism Schools) Conference, which held a competition in 10 professional categories, seven in the field of gastronomy, service, and bars and three in the hotel and tourism industry. The competition saw the participation of more than 300 students from 29 European countries and the US and Pakistan.
Along with their teams, one gold medal was won by a 3rd-grade student of the Šibenik Tourist and Catering School Domagoj Badžim in the business reception category. Toni Grgurević of the Dubrovnik Tourist and Catering School won another in the culinary discipline, in which all three participated in the preparation of one meal, while Anja Duričić, also a student from Dubrovnik, won the third gold medal in the sweetest category – dessert preparation.
The two second-place medals were won in hotel and tourism categories by Ema Zavrtnik, a graduate of the Varaždin School of Hospitality Management and a graduate of the Šibenik Tourism and Hospitality School Nikolina Čoko in presenting a tourism destination.
The bronze medals were brought to their schools by Ana Pralija from the Split Tourist and Catering School in the category of wine knowledge and service and Laura Miloslavić from Dubrovnik in the business reception category. Croatian students won the most medals in presenting a tourist destination, and the third place was shared by as many as three teams, which included graduates Domenika Deže from Osijek and Lucija Pintarić from Varaždin.
The last bronze medal was awarded to Danijel Juratovac, a second-year student of Dubrovnik’s Secondary Tourism and Hospitality School, in the most prestigious culinary arts category. The competition in this category was conducted in such a way that the competing teams were provided with a grocery cart to prepare a three-course menu.
The AEHT conference affirms the core European values of education and teamwork, exchanging experiences and knowledge, multiculturalism and connecting students and schools. That is why competitions in all disciplines are team-based, and members of one team are never students of schools from the same country. Thus, only multicultural teams win.
The host of this year’s conference was the Split School of Hospitality and Catering, whose principal Ivo Bilic and the professors were all praised for their impeccable organization. The students of the Split School also made a significant contribution. Specifically, more than 40 students of all classes served the gala dinner, which was held as part of the awards ceremony at the Le Meridien Lav Hotel, under the banner of the hotel’s professional staff.
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