ROOMS DIVISION SHOW AND TELL CAREER EXPO
On Tuesday, 7 August, students returning from their Level 2 Career Development placements held their Rooms Division Show and Tell Career Expo in the Fitzroy Room to share information about their placement properties with fellow-students and staff through expo-style displays.
Featured properties and companies included Toga (Travelodge and Vibe), Ibis World Square and Mirvac’s Quay West in Sydney, Langham Hotel, Novotel St Kilda and Crowne Casino in Melbourne, Quest North Ryde, Daydrean Island Resort and Spa, Oaks Sydney, Mariott Sydney Harbour Circular Quay, The Excelsior and the Manadarin Oriental in Hong Kong, Hamilton Island and Sofitel.
Mr Rollen Ursula from Indonesia was the first BMHS student to work at the Disneyland Orlando Florida resort which covers 47 square miles including the amusement park, four nature parks, three water parks and several golf courses. Rollen enjoyed his placement as a Guest Services Agent on the front desk where he “had to make guests’ ‘dreams come true’ with extra customer service, especially paying a lot of attention to the children. I was not a Disney fan before this experience but I am now!”
On Tuesday, 7 August, students returning from their Level 2 Career Development placements held their Rooms Division Show and Tell Career Expo in the Fitzroy Room to share information about their placement properties with fellow-students and staff through expo-style displays.
Featured properties and companies included Toga (Travelodge and Vibe), Ibis World Square and Mirvac’s Quay West in Sydney, Langham Hotel, Novotel St Kilda and Crowne Casino in Melbourne, Quest North Ryde, Daydrean Island Resort and Spa, Oaks Sydney, Mariott Sydney Harbour Circular Quay, The Excelsior and the Manadarin Oriental in Hong Kong, Hamilton Island and Sofitel.
Mr Rollen Ursula from Indonesia was the first BMHS student to work at the Disneyland Orlando Florida resort which covers 47 square miles including the amusement park, four nature parks, three water parks and several golf courses. Rollen enjoyed his placement as a Guest Services Agent on the front desk where he “had to make guests’ ‘dreams come true’ with extra customer service, especially paying a lot of attention to the children. I was not a Disney fan before this experience but I am now!”
HM AWARDS NIGHT
The Australian International Hotel School (AIHS) and the Blue Mountains Hotel School (BMHS) were co-sponsors of the HM (Hotel and Accommodation Management magazine) Awards Night gala dinner held at MacLauren Hall, University of Sydney on 17 August, attended by over 300 hospitality industry guests and compered by Ms Catriona Rowntree, star of the Channel 9 travel program, Getaway.
BMHS has been involved with these awards since their inception four years ago and continues to take pride in their close association with HM and sponsorship of several awards.
On behalf of BMHS, CEO/Principal, Mr Guy Bentley presented the Accommodation 5 Stars award to the Four Seasons, Sydney; the Ecotourism Property award to Voyages Longitude 1310, NT; and the Meetings and Conferences Property award to Novotel Twin Waters Resort, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Mr Gordon McDonald, Principal AIHS presented the Regional Property award to Lake House Daylesford, Victoria and the Services to the Community award to Accor Hotels & Resorts Fiji.
The hosts Intermedia kindly agreed to add a new dimension to this year’s event: a fundraising appeal for the Sala Bai Hotel School in Cambodia on behalf of the ORION global hotel schools alliance.
Representing the ORION hotel schools, AIHS and BMHS, Ms Suzanne Stanton gave a short but powerful speech about Sala Bai. Industry opened its hearts and wallets to this appeal. Many individuals bought the $25 Sala Bai cap raffle tickets and several companies generously supported the $1,000 sponsorship packages including Bedford Titley, Swiss-Belhotel International, National Australia Bank, Profi Travel, Select Hotels, Guest International, Garratts Limited, Essence, Horwarth Htl, Quarantine Station, PM Group, Toga Hospitality, Intermedia (HM Group) and PCN.
Once again, BMHS students in their distinctive blue jackets provided excellent service and were great ambassadors on the night. Special mention should be made of student Ms Jessica Smith who was summoned to the stage by Ms Catriona Rowntree and asked several impromptu questions about her education and career which Jessica handled well.
The Australian International Hotel School (AIHS) and the Blue Mountains Hotel School (BMHS) were co-sponsors of the HM (Hotel and Accommodation Management magazine) Awards Night gala dinner held at MacLauren Hall, University of Sydney on 17 August, attended by over 300 hospitality industry guests and compered by Ms Catriona Rowntree, star of the Channel 9 travel program, Getaway.
BMHS has been involved with these awards since their inception four years ago and continues to take pride in their close association with HM and sponsorship of several awards.
On behalf of BMHS, CEO/Principal, Mr Guy Bentley presented the Accommodation 5 Stars award to the Four Seasons, Sydney; the Ecotourism Property award to Voyages Longitude 1310, NT; and the Meetings and Conferences Property award to Novotel Twin Waters Resort, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Mr Gordon McDonald, Principal AIHS presented the Regional Property award to Lake House Daylesford, Victoria and the Services to the Community award to Accor Hotels & Resorts Fiji.
The hosts Intermedia kindly agreed to add a new dimension to this year’s event: a fundraising appeal for the Sala Bai Hotel School in Cambodia on behalf of the ORION global hotel schools alliance.
Representing the ORION hotel schools, AIHS and BMHS, Ms Suzanne Stanton gave a short but powerful speech about Sala Bai. Industry opened its hearts and wallets to this appeal. Many individuals bought the $25 Sala Bai cap raffle tickets and several companies generously supported the $1,000 sponsorship packages including Bedford Titley, Swiss-Belhotel International, National Australia Bank, Profi Travel, Select Hotels, Guest International, Garratts Limited, Essence, Horwarth Htl, Quarantine Station, PM Group, Toga Hospitality, Intermedia (HM Group) and PCN.
Once again, BMHS students in their distinctive blue jackets provided excellent service and were great ambassadors on the night. Special mention should be made of student Ms Jessica Smith who was summoned to the stage by Ms Catriona Rowntree and asked several impromptu questions about her education and career which Jessica handled well.
GUEST LECTURE PROGRAM
The Career Development guest lecturer program continued to attract HR, recruitment and training managers from industry to conduct sessions with BMHS students at the campus.
On 14 August, our guests from Toga Hospitality were Ms Cara George, Training and Development Manager, Mr Richard Todd, Talent and HR Manager and 2001 BMHS graduate Mr Gregor Seipolt who was recently appointed General Manager of a new Adina Apartment Hotel in Berlin. He joins fellow 2001 graduate Mr Caspar Schmidt, General Manager of the Adina Apartment Hotel in Copenhagen, as the only two GMs in Europe spearheading this new concept for Toga. Ms George, Mr Todd and Mr Seipolt talked about the culture of this dynamic company and its management traineeship programs.
Many BMHS graduates have enjoyed good career paths with Toga. “BMHS is producing such high calibre graduates – decision-makers who accept accountability and can adapt on the run – and we know they will never let us down,” says Rachel Argaman, CEO Toga Hospitality, “We genuinely believe in promotion from within and have a similar culture to the school where you are person not a number.”
The Career Development guest lecturer program continued to attract HR, recruitment and training managers from industry to conduct sessions with BMHS students at the campus.
On 14 August, our guests from Toga Hospitality were Ms Cara George, Training and Development Manager, Mr Richard Todd, Talent and HR Manager and 2001 BMHS graduate Mr Gregor Seipolt who was recently appointed General Manager of a new Adina Apartment Hotel in Berlin. He joins fellow 2001 graduate Mr Caspar Schmidt, General Manager of the Adina Apartment Hotel in Copenhagen, as the only two GMs in Europe spearheading this new concept for Toga. Ms George, Mr Todd and Mr Seipolt talked about the culture of this dynamic company and its management traineeship programs.
Many BMHS graduates have enjoyed good career paths with Toga. “BMHS is producing such high calibre graduates – decision-makers who accept accountability and can adapt on the run – and we know they will never let us down,” says Rachel Argaman, CEO Toga Hospitality, “We genuinely believe in promotion from within and have a similar culture to the school where you are person not a number.”
Ms Cara George, Training and Development Manager, Mr Gregor Seipolt, GM Adina Berlin and Mr Richard Todd, Talent and HR Manager
MEMBERSHIP OF THE-ICE
On 28 August, CEO Mr Guy Bentley received formal notification of the Blue Mountains Hotel School’s and the Australian International Hotel School’s membership of the Tourism and Hospitality Education International Centre of Excellence (THE-ICE) www.the-ice.org . An Australian Federal government-funded initiative, THE-ICE was established in 2004 “to recognise, develop, promote and support outstanding capability in this field of education.”
Ms Pauline Tang, Director, Business Development, THE-ICE, sent the following message of congratulations: “I am pleased to advise that the International Independent Assessment Panel members have unanimously agreed that the information submitted in your application to join the membership of THE-ICE meet the criteria under THE-ICE Standards of Excellence.”
On 28 August, CEO Mr Guy Bentley received formal notification of the Blue Mountains Hotel School’s and the Australian International Hotel School’s membership of the Tourism and Hospitality Education International Centre of Excellence (THE-ICE) www.the-ice.org . An Australian Federal government-funded initiative, THE-ICE was established in 2004 “to recognise, develop, promote and support outstanding capability in this field of education.”
Ms Pauline Tang, Director, Business Development, THE-ICE, sent the following message of congratulations: “I am pleased to advise that the International Independent Assessment Panel members have unanimously agreed that the information submitted in your application to join the membership of THE-ICE meet the criteria under THE-ICE Standards of Excellence.”
“Our warm welcome to you and your institutions as the official members of THE-ICE Network. We look forward to working in close collaboration with your elite team in raising the benchmark of TH&E education, training and research and enhancing the outcomes of your internationalisation activities!”The centre undertakes development programs for tourism and hospitality education via:
As a business unit of the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC), the world’s leading scientific institution for research to support the sustainability of travel and tourism, THE-ICE is chaired by Sir Frank Moore (Chairman of STCRC) and directed by Dr Perry Hobson (Southern Cross University. The centre has an independent Advisory Council comprising some of Australia’s leading tourism and hospitality academics and industry experts.
As a business unit of the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC), the world’s leading scientific institution for research to support the sustainability of travel and tourism, THE-ICE is chaired by Sir Frank Moore (Chairman of STCRC) and directed by Dr Perry Hobson (Southern Cross University. The centre has an independent Advisory Council comprising some of Australia’s leading tourism and hospitality academics and industry experts.
- The benchmarking of world’s best practice.
- The International Panel of Experts (comprising academics from UK, US, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong, China, India, Thailand, Korea and Australia, as well as representatives from the NGO sector and industry).
- Commercialisation of intellectual property.
- Strategic consulting on the development of excellence.
- Education and professional development tours and training programs.
THE-ICE members receive excellent marketing exposure, a network of institutions to collaborate with, market research, confidential industry briefings and visiting scholars.
FIELD TRIP
Thirty-five students in the new Management Principles for Specialist Resort Facilities (Golf/Spa) course benefited from a field trip to Shoal Bay Resort and Spa at Port Stephens from 26-28 August.
The three-day excursion provided students with a hands-on specialist resort experience. Each student received a spa treatment at the Resort’s Aqua Spa, and played golf, many for the first time, at Pacific Dunes Residential Golf Estate.
Matthew Stevens, the Resort’s General Manager and a BMHS graduate, presented a guest lecture on the resort’s operations and the keys to his successful transformation of the property over the past 18 months.
On their return, students were assessed on their analysis of how the resort’s operations differ from their industry placement, how the spa contributes to the resort’s success, how the spa is responding to changing industry trends, and how the resort interacts with other attractions, particular local golf courses.
The next group of Level 2 students will visit Shoal Bay Resort and Spa on 11-13 November.
Thirty-five students in the new Management Principles for Specialist Resort Facilities (Golf/Spa) course benefited from a field trip to Shoal Bay Resort and Spa at Port Stephens from 26-28 August.
The three-day excursion provided students with a hands-on specialist resort experience. Each student received a spa treatment at the Resort’s Aqua Spa, and played golf, many for the first time, at Pacific Dunes Residential Golf Estate.
Matthew Stevens, the Resort’s General Manager and a BMHS graduate, presented a guest lecture on the resort’s operations and the keys to his successful transformation of the property over the past 18 months.
On their return, students were assessed on their analysis of how the resort’s operations differ from their industry placement, how the spa contributes to the resort’s success, how the spa is responding to changing industry trends, and how the resort interacts with other attractions, particular local golf courses.
The next group of Level 2 students will visit Shoal Bay Resort and Spa on 11-13 November.
Mr Gregor Seipolt, 2001 BMHS graduate, recently appointed General Manager for Toga's Adina Apartment Hotel in Berlin
(L-R) Ms Helen Batey, International Dean BMIHMS, Mr Guy Bentley, CEO, BMIHMS, Ms Pauline Tang, Director, Business Development, THE-ICE, and Mr Steven Tucker, Deputy Principal, BMHS.
