​Soirée des professionnels du métier at l’EHTL and 4th Award of Excellence

On 4 May, the EHTL was pleased to welcome a large number of guests to its now traditional Soirée des professionnels, an evening for industry professionals from the hospitality sector. Comme le démontre la dénomination de l’édition 2023 – As the name of this year’s event – “The Party: Networking in the Hospitality Sector” – shows, our school does not grow on its own, on the contrary, it relies on constant exchanges and prestigious partnerships with a large number of players in the hospitality world.

Invited to give his point of view on a sector worth no less than 8,600 billion dollars worldwide in 2022, Mr Bram MAES, Cluster General Manager at Novotel Suites Luxembourg & Novotel Luxembourg-Kirchberg presented a conference entitled “In the midst of the storm – a transformation of exciting professions in the world of hospitality”.. The sector has been severely shaken for decades by all kinds of misfortunes and is adapting and reinventing itself in the face of hard knocks and increasingly stringent regulations.. “It’s a bit like Forest Gump: Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get. You never know what tomorrow will bring and at the same time, it is in our interest to take a long-term view. The speaker also spoke about the labour shortage and the talent hunt we are witnessing to the point where companies are now recruiting mainly on the attitude of candidates rather than on their skills.

The evening also saw the fourth presentation of the Award of Excellence, introduced in 2018 by the EHTL. This award is given to a professional who has distinguished himself or herself through his or her career and dedication to the profession. Mr Michel LANNERS, headmaster, had the honour of presenting the award to Mr Dave JUNKER Cet ancien élève de l’école hôtelière de Diekirch, avait choisi de poursuivre ses études pour décrocher un Bachelor’s Degree in International Hospitality & Tourism Management à Glion (Suisse). Since then, he has worked in various hotel chains around the world. Today, he is the General Manager of the luxurious Shangri-La Mactan in Cebu, Philippines. His example shows how rewarding a career in the hospitality industry can be and is an inspiration to the students currently studying at EHTL.

The evening continued with an impressive cocktail reception and live music provided by DJ Dee.