November 12, 2019 – More than 600 participants, including more than 300 students from tourism and hospitality schools in 29 European countries, are in Split for the AEHT Annual Conference. Across five days at the Le Meridien Lav hotel, they will compete in 10 professional categories, seven in the field of gastronomy, service, and bars, and three in the hotel and tourism industry.
Dalmatinski Portal reports that for the 32nd year in a row, the European Association of Hotel and Tourism Schools affirm its fundamental European values, in addition to education and teamwork, multiculturalism, and embracing diversity. The reason is that every competition among students is team-based, there are no individual categories, and team members are never from the same school, so there are no winners across the states or schools, but only multicultural teams win.
The gastronomy competitions take place where contestants are given a basket of groceries to use to prepare a three-course menu, the so-called culinary art. There is also a competitive discipline decathlon where three people on the team make the same meal through different stages of preparation. As teams are assembled just before the start of the conference, it is immediately apparent how individually competent and ready they are for the real sector, where such situations occur daily.
Furthermore, there will be a confectionery contest and a restaurant service, which includes opening champagne in front of guests, followed by knowledge about wine and serving wine, cocktail preparation and a barista competition of hot drinks. The three hotel and tourist categories are reception, presentation of a tourist destination that includes a city tour for jury members, and hospitality management. Students are required to compete in either English or French.
Hosting so many participants is a huge organizational undertaking that this year’s host, the Split Tourism and Hospitality School, has waited to do for seven years since the official application.
“Hosting the AEHT conference is a great honor but also a challenge, so even though we already have experience in organizing major competitions, this is our first with such logistics and attendance. More than 20 people from our school staff are carrying out numerous tasks related to the organization of the conference in addition to their daily work, and I thank my colleagues for their efforts in making the organization as good as possible,” explained Ivo Bilic, director of the Split Tourism and Hospitality School, pointing out the great support of Split-Dalmatia County and the City of Split, as well as the county and city tourist boards.
“By raising human resources to a higher level, we will make our tourism product more attractive and of higher quality, and ultimately more expensive. The goal of education is to make the transition from school to the world of work as easy as possible, and for each student to learn in school what they will be expected to do in the workplace, to receive a task from their superiors and understand the processes and tools. Human resource development, that is, humans are really the key to tourism development, so I would like the people of Split to come to support our students. I believe that the most interesting culinary and pastry competitions will be held to the general public throughout the day, on Wednesday and Thursday, on the terrace in front of the conference rooms of the Le Meridien Lav Hotel,” he added.
Across five days, future tourism workers will achieve 3000 overnights in Split-Dalmatia County during the offseason, which is a substantial contribution to the start of their activities within the Croatian tourism sector.
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