Hundreds of pupils get a taste of working in hospitality
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- Details
- Category: Scotland
- Created on Tuesday, 30 October 2012 15:46
Organised by charity Springboard, which helps young, unemployed and disadvantage people improve their employment prospects in the workplace, working in partnership with Gleneagles and Apex hotels, this unique event comes as a critical time, with recent reports indicating that Scotland’s youth unemployment figure currently stands at 23.7%.
The entire S3 year group experienced how it felt to be both a guest and hospitality professional within a luxury resort – crucially, they also benefitted from hands-on workshops that provided a series of hospitality skills challenges including practical cookery, table setting, table service, spa services, IT and marketing.
As part of the innovative workshops, pupils also learned directly from hotel staff attending the event about their own routes into the industry. Not only did the day showcase the industry at its very best, it also links directly to the Curriculum for Excellence and in particular, Skills for Learning, Life and Work.
Given that hospitality and tourism is a major employer in Scotland, organisers felt that the ‘Hotel Day’ provided many pupils with food for thought in terms of their own career within a growing sector.
Vicki Sutherland, Operations Manager with Springboard Scotland, said: “We are encouraged to have so many pupils take part in our ‘Hotel Day’, it is the biggest event of its kind that we have been involved with to date.
“By showcasing the industry in this way, we are sending out a positive message to pupils about the diverse range of jobs available and underlining that with the right training and support, then can potentially have a career for life.”
