32nd AEHT Meeting in Split
The academic programme, aimed at directors of schools of hotel and tourism, and set up by Michel LANNERS, AEHT vice-president, focused on the sustainability of the hospitality sector. Among the themes addressed were: the circular economy in the hotel industry, the creation of sustainable destination products, and how to follow up speeches on sustainable development with concrete action. The meeting was also an opportunity to look at the new challenges that schools need to prepare for.
On the competition side, Ronny THILL was the referent judge in charge of supervising the content and the smooth running of the pastry competition, while Laurence FRANZEN and Steve LENTZ acted as judges for the serving and cooking competitions.
As every year, students from the Diekirch school took part in the various competitions:
- Georges ALBERT, Restaurant Service
- Alexandra GOERGEN, Front Office
- Carolina MAIRES SUCIO, Tourist Destination
- Sherry Lee VO, Culinary Arts
They are young people selected for their exemplary academic record and have the language skills necessary to take part in tests held exclusively in English. A sound knowledge of general culture was also required to take the theory tests.
Back at school, they talk about their stay in Croatia, the joys and disappointments they experienced.
‘It started badly because we had to change flights because of the fog. As a result, some of them did not arrive in time to follow the specific briefing for their competition.’
‘There’s a lot of unknown as we’ll be taking the tests with other pupils or students of different nationalities and the teams will be drawn by lot.’
‘In tourism, the topic imposed was really interesting, namely how to promote Split as a winter destination. I also discovered the art of story telling, a way of doing things that turns a guided tour into an adventure that captures the attention of visitors and creates emotion.’
‘I thought I had prepared myself for every possible and imaginable situation, but I was still surprised by the complaint I had to deal with during my acceptance test: a customer complaining about seeing a naked man at the window!’
‘What luck to have been able to discover Diocletian’s palace or the national theatre; they are real architectural gems.’
‘As an EHTL team, we pulled together, motivating each other to give the best of ourselves despite moments of stress or doubt.’
Après sa formidable 3e place à la Coupe Georges Baptiste en octobre dernier, Georges ALBERT décroche la médaille d’argent, avec son binôme belge, à l’issue des épreuves du concours de service. Il vient ainsi enrichir le palmarès de l’EHTL qui s’allonge au fil des participations à des concours internationaux et qui témoigne de l’excellente préparation dont bénéficient les élèves.
After his formidable 3rd place in the Georges Baptiste Cup last October, Georges ALBERT won the silver medal, with his Belgian pair, at the end of the service competition. He has thus enriched the EHTL’s prize list, which is growing with each passing year of participation in international competitions and which testifies to the excellent preparation of the students.
Through its activities, the European Association of Hotel and Tourism Schools has once again made a major contribution to ‘bringing together the nations of Europe and creating a Europe committed to an ethos based on the notion of respect for others in all their diversity, whether economic, social, moral or spiritual”.’
The next edition of the Annual Meetings will take place from 2 to 7 November 2020 in Aveiro (Portugal).
