Tourism, hotels, restaurants: exciting jobs, but…

On 28 September 2021, at the Parc Hôtel Alvisse in Dommeldange, one of the five workshops aimed at setting up a new strategy for the development of tourism in Luxembourg by 2030 took place, in consultation with partners in the field. This round table, organised by the Directorate-General for Tourism of the Ministry of the Economy and entitled

FROM JOBS TO VOCATIONS: New work and qualified personnel in the tourism sector,

brought together final year pupils and EHTL students, former pupils who are at the beginning of their professional lives, sometimes with a bachelor’s degree in hand, and employers working in the tourism, hotel and restaurant sector.

The aim of this workshop was:
– to promote the value of the hospitality professions,
– to raise interest in this dynamic sector,
– to identify concrete measures to attract young people.

Constructive discussions and exchanges made it possible to highlight the requirements of some and the needs of others. For example, employers want to recruit multilingual staff who are well trained in the hospitality industry, have an excellent general knowledge and are willing to undergo further training. For their part, employees and future employees insisted on the notions of respect and recognition, the atmosphere and working environment, modern equipment and solutions for commuting and working in breaks.

The desire for closer cooperation between the EHTL and companies was also mentioned, as well as the idea of paired courses, which would be taught jointly by a teacher and an employer.

This round table was a great opportunity for EHTL students to come into contact with employers and decision-makers in the sector. It required them to express themselves in French, to debate and to synthesise in groups, which contributes to their training and equips them for their future professional careers.