AEHT ACTIVITIES REPORT for the 2005/2006 academic year 1. 18th Annual Conference in Antalya, Turkey, October 22nd - 27th 2005 From October 22nd to 27th 2005 Anatolia demonstrated its desire to rub shoulders with the 25 countries of the great European Union by opening its doors to 130 hotel and tourism schools from 30 countries. At the Kemer Resort Hotel all the members of the organising team from Antalya Koleji pulled all the stops out to ensure that this 18th AEHT Annual Conference, just like the one organised in Antalya 13 years earlier, was an unforgettable event. Just as every year this Annual Conference saw the organisation of numerous competitions which went off in a spirit of fairness and peace and of recognition of each others’ differences; there were also many meetings, seminars, presentations of European projects (Pro Terris, Virtex) and of course the well attended Annual General Assembly at which much interesting news was shared. The President announced the departure from his post of Gilles Honegger who had always been a vital partner in organising the ACCOR placements, as well as of Hans Russegger who had devoted himself body and soul for 14 years to the task of AEHT treasurer; the President thanked them for their work and, together with Suheyla Ög, organiser of the Antalya Conference in 1992, awarded them honorary membership of the AEHT. The jazz concert, the Harem evening, the ‘folklorama’ presented by the National Opera and Ballet Company, as well as the gala dinner evening, all these events gave delegates a brief glimpse of the traditions and uniqueness of Turkish culinary arts. The excursions to Aspendos and Side and the visit to the old quarter of Antalya, organised in the course of the conference, were real journeys back in time to discover a history so rich in many respects. As every year the competitions gave rise to some disputes and the competitions sub-committee was called upon to intervene on several occasions. The committee’s observations were incorporated into a report presented to the Vic-president responsible for events, and led to several modifications of the competition rules, to be implemented at the next Annual Conference. Despite these few problems the 2005 Conference was a great success and enabled many schools and individual delegates to form links and friendships. We hope to see you in Killarney in November 2006 for the next chapter of the great AEHT adventure story. A. Statistics: •

There were 646 participants from 130 schools located in 31 different European countries, distributed as follows:

- Total number of participants: • Directors • Teachers • Students • Accompanying persons and other invitees (interpreters, journalists, ACCOR, AEHT head office staff, ECAI, etc.) 1

646 132 200 273 41

- ANTALYA KOLEJI organising committee: • Teachers • Partners • Students • Administrative staff

113 7 15 82 9

Comparison with previous years: Year

Location

2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993

Antalya Bled Copenhagen San Remo Linz Berlin Luxembourg Faro/Vilamoura Zandvoort La Rochelle Gothenburg Portrush Sciacca

Organising Country Turkey Slovenia Denmark Italy Austria Germany Luxembourg Portugal Pays-Bas France Sweden Northern Ireland Italy

Schools 130 135 140 139 105 120 127 123 115 101 107 75 75

Participation in the events mentioned below: 3,780 • • • • • • • • •

Opening Ceremony Closing Ceremony Jazz Concert Excursion to Aspendos-Side Visit of Antalya Old Quarter Seminar given by Prof. Dr. Fahriışık Presentation of Turkish Culinary Arts Presentation of Turkish Confectionary 1001 Nights – Harem Show

770 670 310 420 370 170 60 350 660

- Participation in the Competitions: - Number of competitors: • Bar • Food Service • Culinary Arts • Pastry • Front Office • Tourism Promotion • Animation • Student of the Year

272 33 44 69 32 30 39 13 12 2

Participating Countries 31 34 28 29 33 23 24 21 23 19 20 16 15

Participants 646 620 564 705 601 641 940 640 596 814 620 393 500

B. Financial Report: Note: The figures given below are based on an exchange rate of 1 EUR = 1.6 New Turkish Pounds. Gross turnover:

€ 259,715.00 in EUROS (€) 259.715 217.100 2.998 39.618

Income: Conference fees AEHT Contribution to interpreting costs VAT Expenditure: Accommodation (full board) Transfers Competition costs Cost of other events Other costs (presents)

257.719 106.703 21.465 85.596,5 4.879,5

Difference (surplus):

+1.996,5

Our very warm thanks go to all the students and teachers of the ÖZEL ANTALYA ANADOLU OTELCILIK VE TURIZM MESLEK LISESI School for their warm welcome and for their personal commitment throughout the conference. Our very special thanks go to the following colleagues for the invaluable help which they gave to the AEHT: Dr Fatma Kızılırmak, member of the College Board; M. Ali Alp Arslan, Director M. Reşat İnan, Teacher M. Yener Konukaldı, Teacher Mme Pinar Zorel, Administration Don’t miss Jo Laegny’s amazing report of the event, lavishly illustrated by his photographs, available now on the AEHT’s website at www.aeht.lu. 2. Competitions Sub-committee Following discussions about arrangements for the competitions which took place during the San Remo Annual Conference, the AEHT Presidium set up a competitions sub-committee with the remit of revising the competition rules which are an integral part of the AEHT’s House Rules (article 17.1.4). Membership of the sub-committee consists of Anne Dearey, committee chair (Failte Ireland, Dublin), Asdis Vatnsdal (Kopavogur, Iceland), Romana Bauer (Bad Leonfelden, Austria) and Helena Cvikl (Maribor, Slovenia); the committee refined the rules a first time in Senigallia in December 2003 and proceeded to a second revision at the Bled Annual Conference in October 2004. These revisions produced a number of relevant observations. As mentioned above the sub-committee revised the competition rules en March 2006, taking into account comments which had been made following the Antalya Annual Conference. The new version of the rules is published on the AEHT website, www.aeht.lu. The organisers of the Killarney Annual

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Conference have been requested to adopt this new set of rules, while adapting their competitions to local customs and conditions. 3. Seminars Seminar on oil, olives and culture in Dalmatia, Split, Croatia This seminar took place from September 29th to October 2nd 2005 at the ‘Turistickougostiteljska skola’ hotel and tourism school in Split. The seminar programme included several lectures on the subject, visits to places related to olive-growing and its history, as well as excursions to cultural and historical sites. 22 participants from 11 AEHT member schools located in seven European countries (Austria, Croatia, France, Italy, Macedonia, Slovakia and Slovenia) savoured the various Dalmatian products and dishes made using olive oil. Seminar on ‘The Role of Tokaj Wines in Hungarian Gastronomy’, Budapest, Hungary This seminar, scheduled for November 9th-13th, had to be cancelled because of insufficient registrations. Seminar on ‘Bresse Poultry – a Quality Product with its Own Guarantee of Origin’, Bonneville, France Each year as Christmas approaches the Bresse region of France holds its famous ‘Glorious Contests’ – four competitions which aim to show off the finest poultry. The events are attended by producers, foodies, restaurant owners hoping to impress their clients, and local and regional big-wigs who are proud of a ‘tradition of quality’ which contributes to France’s reputation as a nation of gastronomy. The seminar which took place from December 16th to 21st 2005, on the fringe of this event, enabled 11 AEHT participants to learn more about this ‘Bresse Poultry’ by hearing experts talk, and by working with it and savouring it at the Bonneville hotel school. Other events in the programme included a reception at the Bonneville Town Hall given by the mayor and local MP, a visit to the Bresse selection centre in Béchanne, a visit to the ‘Glorieuse de Montrevel’ contest, first in the wings then as spectators; at this event the participants met great chefs such as Paul Bocuse and Georges Blanc. Seminar entitled ‘The World Changes, Traditions Remain – Jewish and Silesian Culinary Arts’, Gliwice, Poland This workshop took place from April 10th to 14th 2005, and was organised by the Gliwice hotel school and sponsored by the President of the city, Mr Zygmunt Frankiewicz; the participants had the opportunity to learn all about Polish Jewish culinary arts and Silesian regional cookery. In this era of globalisation, peoples must rely on traditional values to retain their linguistic, cultural and of course gastronomic identity. This is why it is important to pass on these values to our children. The participants enjoyed an immersion course in Polish Jewish and Silesian values and also had the opportunity to share among themselves their own regional and national values as well as their professional experiences. As part of the seminar a number of excursions were arranged to historic sites: the ‘Queen Louise’ mine museum, the Auschwitz concentration camp, Krakow old town and its Kazimierz Jewish quarter. The 25 participants came from 11 different schools in seven countries: • Italy: 2 from Senigallia • Ireland: 2 from Waterford • Bulgaria: 1 • Croatia: 1 from Dubrovnik • Macedonia: 5 from Skopje 4

• •

Slovakia: 2 from Prešov Poland: 4 from Gliwice, 2 from Grudziadz, 2 from Radom, 2 from Rzeszow, 2 from Warsaw.

All the participants returned home happy with this enriching culinary and linguistic experience. Languages Workshop on ‘New Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages’, St Johann in Tyrol, Austria This seminar was organised in collaboration with representatives of the VIRTEX Leonardo da Vinci project in which the AEHT is a partner: VIRTual EXperiences aims to prepare students to use foreign languages during a professional placement in a hotel or restaurant unit. The seminar was aimed primarily at language teachers who prepare students for placements abroad. 22 participants, three lecturers and two co-organisers came together from April 26th to 30th in this beautiful town in the mountains to learn all about new methods of foreign language teaching. • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Austria: 2 from Bad Ischl, 5 from Bad Leonfelden, 1 from St. Johann Croatia: 1 from Osijek Estonia: 1 from Kuressaare Germany: 1 from Dortmund Italy: 2 from Rome, 1 from Senigallia The Netherlands: 1 from Rotterdam Portugal: 1 from Madeira Romania: 2 from Timişoara Russia: 2 from St Petersbourg Sweden: 2 from Kalmar Slovakia: 2 from Prešov Turkey: 2 from Tekirdag United Kingdom: 1 from London

The director of the Sankt Johann school, Beate Palfrader, warmly greeted the delegates at a welcome reception on the first evening. During the first morning session Martha Hubbard, the renowned pedagogue from the Kuressaare school in Estonia presented the rich supply of language learning materials available free over the internet. Next Dr John Rees Smith, director of Middlesex University Language Centre in London, spoke about computer-aided languagelearning, as well as about training in interpreting and translating for teachers wishing to develop their activities outside the classroom. In the afternoon came a presentation of the VIRTEX project from Klaas Ruitinger and Christiane Puchner, including an explanation of the project’s objectives and of the structure of the CD-Rom containing language-learning materials for English and German. The participants had the opportunity to try out the pilot version of the materials produced thus far, and were invited to give their opinion about them – they were able to send their comments directly by e-mail from the demonstration room to the promoter in the Netherlands. The following morning Romana Bauer, a teacher at the Bad Leonfelden School, spoke about ‘open learning’, presenting a wide range of language-teaching tools. In the afternoon the Trauner Verlag publisher, specialising in books for vocational education, presented a selection of its products which impressed the participants. The last session of the day was devoted to an exchange of teaching materials, during which teachers exchanged much useful information and references on books, software and favourite web addresses. On Saturday, the final day, participants were treated to excursions in the region. 5

All participants agreed that the seminar had been a great success and would certainly be followed by others on similar topics. 4. Symposia and Other Events ‘Eurocup 2005’ Young Barman Competition, Prešov. Slovakia 43 schools from seven countries, including ten AEHT member schools from six different countries, competed in the 13th international young barman competition, the prestigious event which took place in Prešov between November 14th and 16th. The initial programme for the event was followed to the letter. Below are the results of the ten best schools: No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

School SOU SD Jednota Námestovo Zespol Skol Gospodarczych, Rzeszow, Poland HA Kežmarok HA Prešov 1 Giorgio Perlasca Secondary School for Commerce and Catering, Budapest HA Košice ZHaOŠ Liptovský Mikuláš HA Prešov 2 HA Žilina SOU Obchodné Prešov

competitors Total marks 1. 2. 110.5 112.5 223.0 101.5 120.5 222.0 110.0 111.0 221.0 108.0 110.0 218.0 106.5 109.0 215.5 107.0 113.5 108.5 102.0 108.0

108.0 101.5 105.5 111.5 104.0

215.0 215.0 214.0 213.5 212.0

Third International Gastronomy Festival on Sport and Health in Faro, Portugal The third edition of this event took place from February 22nd to 26th 2006 in Faro, Portugal with financial support from the AEHT. 36 participants from nine member schools from four countries (Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain) attended this event which, as in previous years, was outstanding from the point of view of organisation and content. Competition for Hotel Reception Employees, Guilianova, Italy The second ‘DONNA DINA MIGLIORI’ contest for hotel reception employees was organised from May 11th to 13th 2006 by the IPSSARCT « L. Di Poppa » in Guilianova, which opened its doors to the following 27 schools (including 17 Italian schools and ten from other countries): COUNTRY OR REGION OF ORIGIN 1. Russia 2. Romania 3. Malta 4. Sweden 5. Bulgaria 6. Guadeloupe 7. Latvia 8. Luxembourg 9. Palma de Majorca 10. The Netherlands

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Petrovsky College Tourism Hotel and Restaurant Institute of Tourism Studies Hotel och-restauranskolan Gastis Professional High School of Tourism, Sofia Lycée d’Hôtellerie et de Tourisme Riga School and Food Manufactures Lycée Technique Hôtelier “Alexis Heck” Escola d’hotelleria Illes Balears Hotel School ROC van Amsterdam 6

COUNTRY OR REGION OF ORIGIN

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

11. I - Vibo Valentia 12. I - Senigallia 13. I - Vieste 14. I - Brescia 15. I- Rome 16. I - Formia 17. I - Forlimpopoli 18. I - Cervia 19. I - Palermo 20. I - Monteruscello 21. I - Pinerolo 22. I - Cassino 23. I - Bari 24. I - Castel S. Pietro 25. I - Arma di Taggia 26. I - Sciacca 27. I - Venezia

Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Ipssar Isis

The competition consisted of a practical test which took place in the Front Office of the host school, based on real situations, as well as the creation of a stand presenting the participants’ country of origin. Many newspaper articles by journalists who attended the inauguration and the competition emphasised the professionalism and technical skills of the students, both in terms of the preparation of the stand and of the reception test. The judging panel was made up of two separate teams, one of which judged the stand, the other the performance at reception. The first team consisted of a representative of an international tour operator, a representative of a local tour operator, a teacher who was a native speaker of English, teachers of French and German, a teacher of tourism procedures and the Director of the Istituto Di Poppa, Prof. Rodolfo De Dominicis, turned judge for the occasion. The judging panel for the reception test was made up of an Italian representative of the AIRA (Associazione Italiana Receptionisti), Dr Ivonne Tinari, with foreign language teachers and a reception teacher. The list of winners was read out during a gala dinner at which participants were entertained by a band made up of teachers from the Istituto “Di Poppa”. During this gala evening Alfonso Benvenuto, President of the AEHT, the director of the host school, Giovanni Di Carlo and several VIPs presided over the presentation of the prizes. • The first prize of €300 and the large cup were awarded to student Trama Cristian from the Ipssar ‘A. Celletti’ in Formia (Latina); • The second prize of €200 and the corresponding cup were awarded to Ms Massicot Christelle from the ‘Archipel Guadeloupe’ Hotel and Tourism School in Guadeloupe; • The third prize of €100 and the corresponding went to student Nick van Zuijlen from the ‘Hotel School Roc Van Amsterdam’, in the Netherlands. The students who were placed 4th and 5th, with scores almost identical to those of the winners listed above, were presented with vouchers, one for a weekend in Tortoreto Lido (Te) and the other for a stay in Giulianova Lido.

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The prize for the best stand was awarded to the student Belqaid Zineb from the Ipssar in Sciacca (Agrigento) who had also won second place in the overall classification, receiving a voucher for a stay in Sardinia as well as the cup. All the participating students were handed a certificate of participation in the contest as well as a mobile phone case given by Ripani. Vases of Castelli ceramic ware, specially produced for the occasion by students from the Istituto D’Arte ’Grue’ in Castelli (Te) were presented to accompanying teachers. In view of the success of the contest, the organisers plan to put on the event again next year. ‘Superbe 2006’ competition for Spring Recipes with White Asparagus and Wild Herbs, Province of Treviso, Italy In view of the financial restrictions imposed on the events budget from 2005 and the stricter application by the AEHT Presidium of criteria for awarding grants, this competition could unfortunately not be co-financed by the AEHT. However the AEHT Head Office made available its logistical support and sent out relevant information about this event to its membership through the internet site. The competition has been run for several years, and this year ran from early May to early June 2006 in collaboration with Carry-On, an AEHT professional member, together with the Treviso Province and the Treviso AOC Restaurateurs Group. The judges aim to select the six leading European culinary arts students who have created the best spring recipe with white asparagus and wild herbs. The contest was restricted to students in their fourth and fifth year of training in member schools of the AEHT. The winners had the opportunity of presenting their recipe to an Italian public during a placement spent studying culinary arts and regional specialities in one of the restaurants belonging to the ‘Superbe’ division of the Treviso AOC Restaurateurs Group. The winners selected for their professional skills and creativity were: FORENAME & SURNAME

Matteo Semorile

SCHOOL

I.I.S.S. “VITTORIA COLONNA”

COUNTRY /REGION

Italy/ Rome

RECIPE

Bowl of white asparagus and octopus with CASA thyme, BRUSADA Tumbler of beans and crayfish with an Crocetta del emulsion of wild fennel Montello Filet of Luccio Perca and salmon-trout VILLA ‘del sile’ with Bellevue crayfish served RAZZOLINI with a cake of Cimadolo white asparagus LOREDAN stuffed with fresh herbs. Asolo

Luca De Biasi IPSSAR ALBERINI

Italy/ Treviso

Claudia Zarcone

Italy/ Palermo

Filet of pork with ginger and Cimadolo asparagus

Croatia

White asparagus au gratin in a parmesan basket

IPSSAR PALERMO

Ivan Novosel GOSPODARSKA SKOLA BUJE Papazisis Dimitris Giorgio La Mantia

IIEK HOTELIA HOTEL Greece & RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT SCHOOL IPSSAR PALERMO Italy/ Palermo

RESTAURANT

VILLA CASTAGNA Crocetta del Montello CALANDRINE Cimadolmo

Asparagus with rice and fresh garden peas PARCO DA DOMENICO Spresiano Soup of Cimadolo asparagus with crayfish

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GAMBRINUS San Polo di Piave

It should be emphasised that the winners in this competition are not placed in a particular order: the six students win the contest on an equal footing and were invited to take part in the Superbe gala dinner, and to prepare their winning recipe at the evening reception organised by the Superbe group to which the student has been attached. We should like to thank CarryOn and the Province of Treviso for hosting this competition for several years, as well as organising other highly instructive seminars; we deeply regret that this fruitful collaboration has had to be suspended following the reorientation of CarryOn’s activities. 5. Christmas in Europe in Fundão, Portugal, December 2nd to 7th 2005 Celebrating the 14th year of Christmas in Europe – an event which is now an integral part of the AEHT tradition – 74 eager students and teachers from 15 schools located in 11 European countries made their way to Fundão, 250 kms north of Lisbon from December 2nd to 7th 2005. The delegations cam from: 1. AL - Tirana 2. A - Semmering 3. DK- Copenhagen 4. F - Bonneville 5. F - Château Chinon 6. H - Budapest 7. I - Panzini 8. I – Reggio Emilia 9. L- Diekirch 10. P-Coimbra 11. PL – Poznan 12. PL - Rzeszow 13. P – P. Vitória 14. SLO - Bled 15. S- Örebro Christmas in Europe in Fundão was officially declared open on December 3rd at an inaugural parade from the hotel school to the town hall square where local big-wigs awaited; a drum band, the ALCAIDE, provided musical accompaniment for the parade. A little later, in the council chamber that was rather too small for the occasion, came the speeches by Dr. Carlos São Martinho, deputy mayor of the town of Fundão, by Jorge Umbelino, chairman of the board of INFTUR as well as Alfonso Benvenuto, AEHT president. When the participants had returned to the hotel school Christiane Keller and Alfonso Benvenuto proceeded with the official opening of the exhibition, consisting of 16 stands, by cutting the traditional red ribbon. The last semi-official event was the midnight mass celebrated in the venerable Fundão parish church, where the participants gathered after a dinner at the ‘Estalagem da Neve’ hotel; the mass was followed by a gathering around a large bonfire lit in front of the church in accordance with an age-old tradition, to music sung by the ‘Grupo de cantarès de Aldeia de Joanes’ choir. At the mass itself, celebrated by Father Barreiros, music was provided by a choir consisting of students and teachers from the Fundão INFTUR School; prayers written by the different delegations were read out in the course of the service. On the evening of December 4th came the Christmas Show in which each delegation is supposed to present either a song or a sketch or a dance related to Christmas or its traditions or the traditions of a region in general. This part of the event was a great success.

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On the following day came the European Buffet, the third section of this event. At the official opening, in the presence of numerous guests including Carlos São Martinho, deputy mayor of Fundão, Alfonso Benvenuto and Louis Robert, respectively president and vice-president of the AEHT, warmly thanked all those who had contributed to this 14th version of Christmas in Europe, not forgetting the organising schools in Coimbra and Fundão as well as the indefatigable and indispensable Christiane Keller the founder and facilitator of this event. The final gala evening organised on St Nicholas’ day with entertainment provided by the ‘Intermezzo’ choir was just as good as the events of the previous days. In order to encourage the European spirit the organisers had ensured a mix of nationalities at each table, and each table bore the name of a different musician. In the course of the evening Vico Melo’s video of the highlights of the stay in Fundão was projected; then certificates of attendance were handed out together with a small present. Please see Jo Laegny’s detailed report, illustrated with photographs, on the AEHT website, www.aeht.lu. Comparison with previous years: Year 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994

Venue Fundaõ Bad Ischl Senigallia Kuresaare Poznan Rhodes Bonneville Podebrady Espoo Budapest Barcelona Copenhagen

Participants 74 86 135 70 150 300 72 70 92 90 70 88

Country 11 16 16 12 19 17 10 12 14 11 10 13

Schools 15 18 22 14 20 18 12 13 15 13 13 19

6. Gastronomy for Peace At the Copenhagen General Assembly in October 2003 around 140 members signed a declaration (the number of signatories has increased since then) with the intention of bringing together, on the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Day and aimed at preventing crimes against humanity, all AEHT member schools around a common project to promote peace in the world; we should remember that tourism and gastronomy depend very largely on peace in the world. This common project enjoys widespread support, including that of the President of the European Commission at the time that support was requested, Romano Prodi; of Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Education and Culture, as well as the support of the Grand Ducal Court in Luxembourg. The patronage of the Council of Europe has also been requested. On March 20th 2005 this initiative was launched for the first time in our schools. Thanks to the personal efforts of our students, teachers and directors across Europe, in May 2005 a cheque for €17,500 was handed to Handicap International, an organisation which has a presence in more than 50 countries, providing emergency aid; Handicap International was designated by the Executive Board as the beneficiary of the campaign for 2005.

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At the end of 2005 the AEHT Presidium examined the outcome of the campaign and realised that schools needed more time and greater flexibility when organising this type of activity. Louis Robert, AEHT vice-president and initiator of this project, undertook to reflect on the matter and to produce a set of guidelines to be presented to the Annual Conference in Killarney. 7. Teacher Placements in ACCOR Group Units in 2005 The day-to-day organisation of these periods of observation was carried out in 2006 by Sibylle Schoch, a teacher at the Alexandre Dumas Hotel and Tourism School in Illkirch who was also AEHT General Secretary from 1990 to 2000. In the spring of 2005 Gilles Honegger, the ACCOR Group’s Director of Human Resources, sent out a request to the Group’s hotels; and thanks to the commitment of Frédérique Poggi and her colleague Céline Jeantet-Gorre – both working for the Human Resources Directorate for ACCOR Hotels – 121 hotels agreed to accept a teacher from an AEHT member school for a ‘period of observation’ of one or two weeks. As of September 21st the situation was as described below; the final figures will be given at the next General Assembly. 46 teachers from 22 schools in 14 countries had signed up for an ACCOR placement: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Austria Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Finland France Greece Ireland Italy Poland Romania Russia Slovenia Sweden TOTAL

3 1 1 3 1 14 1 1 5 5 6 3 1 1 46

Around 67.4% of participants were women; compared with last year a greater number of women were interested in ACCOR placements. 55.3% of participants were language teachers and 38.3% were teachers of practical subjects. 37% were less than 35 years old. The average age was about 41. 39.2% completed their placement in July and the same percentage in August, as against 13.7% in June and 5.9% in September. Most teachers (50%) opted for a one-week placement, and 43.5% opted for a stay of more than ten days. Receiving hotels: • • • • • •

Ibis Mercure Novotel Sofitel Other TOTAL

17 8 12 9 0 46 11

The Ibis chain hosted the largest number of teachers. Countries in which the placements took place: • • • • • • • • •

Austria Belgium France Germany Luxembourg Spain Switzerland United Kingdom TOTAL

4 1 16 4 1 1 3 16 46

More than one third of the teachers carried out their placements in hotels in France (34.8%) and the United Kingdom (34.8%). London is the town which hosted the greatest number of teacher placements (four teachers or 8.7%), followed by Birmingham, Paris, Strasbourg and Vienna (which hosted three teachers each). Departments where placements were carried out: • • • • • •

Housekeeping F&B Front Office and Rooms Division Restaurant Groups department, sales TOTAL

8 13 34 12 3 70

Around 48.6% of teachers were placed in the Front Office and Rooms Division department. We should note that most teachers carried out their placement in several departments. We should point out that 76.1% of participants who had completed their placement by September 21st stated that their objectives had been achieved, and 89.1% said that they were prepared to carry out another such placement. 6.5% did not express an opinion. All of these statistics, illustrated with graphs, http://perso.wanadoo.fr/sibylle.schoch/results.htm .

will

soon

be

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Conditions for participating teachers: • free accommodation in a single room in the hotel; • free meals if taken with the hotel staff; 50% reduction on meals taken in the hotel’s restaurant; • travelling expenses reimbursed by the AEHT up to a maximum of €200; • the teacher is present as an observer and is not obliged to work; • To cover administrative costs the AEHT makes an administrative charge of €80 per participant, except for teachers from Eastern European countries which are not members of the European Union; this administrative fee is deducted from the travelling expenses claim.

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8. Teacher Placements in Units of the Jurys Doyle, Premgroup and Masterchefs Groups in 2006 At its meeting in October 2005 in Antalya the Executive Board agreed that the Warsaw Hotel School in Poland should take over running the 2006 teacher placements in units of the English and Irish hotel groups. Two representatives of the Warsaw school, Renata Długaszek and Magdalena Waglowska, set up a web page containing all the information about the organisation of a placement, including the following documents: application form, questionnaire and travelling expenses claim form. In January 2006 Renata and Magdalena contacted Sarah Marr, HR Director of PremGroup Hotels; Patricia Larkin, HR Director of Jurys Doyle and Paul Carey of the ECAI with a view to establishing a list of the hotels prepared to accept AEHT teachers on placement. Renata and Magdalena also sent e-mails to Mary Owens, the AEHT’s national representative in Ireland. Since they received no reply, they sent a reminder by e-mail and fax. At the same time they were receiving the first applications from teachers wishing to take part in the placement programme. In March Patricia Larkin contacted Renata and Magdalena to request details of the dates and duration of the placements they had requested; this information was sent together with the names and contact details of the teachers they wished to place. This unfortunately did not result in any placements, no doubt because the files was passed to another person at the time of the group’s internal restructure. Up to now the Warsaw hotel school has received no confirmation from hotels regarding the requested placements. The school will make every effort to ensure that 2007 is a more successful year in this respect. 9. Meetings Meetings of the Presidium October 24th 2005 March 3rd 2006 June 23rd and 24th 2006 September 8th and 9th 2006

Kemer (Antalya), Turkey Killarney, Ireland Diekirch, Luxembourg Senigallia, Italy

Meetings of the Executive Board October 25th 2005 March 4th 2006

Kemer (Antalya), Turkey Killarney, Ireland

General Assembly October 25th 2005

Kemer (Antalya), Turkey

Several reports, illustrated with photographs, have been written about the Executive Board’s meetings in various countries and may be consulted on our website at www.aeht.lu. Council of Europe: INGO Education and Culture Group On October 5th and 6th 2005 the General Secretary, Nadine Schintgen and the AEHT’s official Translator/Interpreter, John Rees Smith, attended the autumn meeting of the INGO Education and Culture Group at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. Nadine returned to Strasbourg for the spring meeting of the same group on June 28th 2006. At the spring meeting the delegates discussed the priorities for 2006/7, the group’s current activities including 13

education and intercultural and inter-faith dialogue, democratic citizenship through education (including the teaching of human rights), the declaration on education and culture, higher education and research, the history, education and culture of migrant children, as well as education in the media. A White Book on intercultural dialogue in currently being prepared, and a draft version can be consulted on the Council of Europe’s website www.coe.int. The AEHT is obliged to ensure an annual attendance in order to retain the status of an INGO with consultative status with the Council of Europe. Collaboration with the ECAI (European Catering Association International) Following a meeting with ECAI officers in Senigallia in December 2003, at the ‘ECAI Student Competition and Conference’ held in Vienna on April 15th and 16th 2004, in London on November 26th 2004 and in Antalya at the beginning of March 2005, two types of collaboration were mapped out for 2005: 1. collaboration in the organisation of placements in ECAI industrial catering units for AEHT teachers; 2. collaboration between the AEHT and the ECAI in the organisation of the ‘Student of the Year Competition’ both on the website and as part of the AEHT Annual Conference. At the Antalya Annual Conference the AEHT integrated into the official programme the ‘Student of the Year Competition’ organised by the ECAI. Given the negative reaction of some member schools, uncertainty about the real benefit for our Association and the incompatibility of the concept of this competition with the AEHT’s European spirit, the Presidium decided temporarily to suspend its collaboration with ECAI, and to take time to reflect on the best way of resuming possible cooperation. 10. Representation: •

Symposium on Bulgarian Tourism and its Development Prospects, November 26th 2006 in Borovets, Bulgaria On November 26th 2005, at the invitation of Vassil Gadev, director of the Higher Education Tourism Institute of Sofia, directors and representatives of 20 Bulgarian Hotel and Tourism Schools, together with regional and national political figures, came together in Borovets, a picturesque mountain resort 70 kms from Sofia; they met to discuss Bulgarian tourism et in particular its future development and the potential role to be played by schools in the tourism sector. Alfonso Benvenuto, AEHT president, took part in the symposium, and in his welcome speech he greeted the participants in the name of the entire AEHT membership. He took part in the highly interesting debate, which came to the conclusion that ‘Tourism of the future will depend on high technology and on a high degree of professionalism, and for this reason our schools must be capable of teaching culture, professionalism and high quality service.’ Alfonso Benvenuto urged our Bulgarian colleagues to join the AEHT, which is an ideal forum to discuss the initiatives they wish to undertake – collaboration on the creation of new types of training and exchange programmes with hotel and tourism schools in other countries of the European Union, especially Western countries which have more experience in managing projects co-financed by EU programmes such as Leonardo da Vinci, Comenius, Socrates, Arion, etc. As mentioned elsewhere in this report, Alfonso Benvenuto (President) represented and promoted the AEHT at the following events:

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• Competition for Hotel Reception Employees, Guilianova, Italy; • Christmas in Europe in Fundão, Portugal, December 2nd to 7th 2005. In addition, in his capacity as director of his own school and as president of the Italian Association of Hotel Schools, he has attended several Italian events and not missed a single opportunity to promote our Association to his compatriots. As mentioned above, Louis Robert represented the AEHT, together with Alfonso Benvenuto, at Christmas in Europe in Fundão, Portugal, from December 2nd to 7th 2005. In addition he has devoted much time to identifying professional members in Luxembourg. During the 2005/2006 academic year Neeme Rand and Adolf Steindl have visited or telephoned various member schools for a variety of purposes. In fulfilling his remit as Vice-president responsible for ACCOR placements, Michel Gaillot maintained regular contact with Gilles Honegger, General Director of Human Resources of the ACCOR group, as well as with Frédérique Poggi, his successor. In addition he has had several meetings with Mr Sevaux of the Grand Marnier Company with a view to future collaboration with the AEHT. For several years John Rees Smith has devoted himself to the recruitment of hotel schools in the UK, a country which is under-represented in the AEHT. As long ago as late 2004 he gave a presentation of the AEHT to 27 heads of UK university hospitality studies departments. In 2005 he requested a slot to present the AEHT at the Norwich conference, in November, of PACE, a national association of UK hotel schools. The response to this request was delayed because of a change of president and conference organiser, and John Rees Smith had to be content with submitting a new request for 2006, since it was now too late for the 2005 conference request to be considered. In addition he has represented the AEHT since 2005 in a Leonardo da Vinci pilot project entitled VIRTEX (VIRTual EXperiences aims to prepare students to use foreign languages during a professional placement in a hotel or restaurant unit). Involvement in this project necessitated his attendance at partner meetings in Bad Leonfelden (January 9th-15th) and in Prague (June 1st-4th). He also participated as a trainer at the seminar on new methods of foreign language teaching held from April 26th-30th in Sankt Johann in Tirol (see above), where he gave a presentation on computer-assisted language-learning. He has also continued to be the AEHT’s main contact in our relations with other associations, particularly in our contacts with the ECAI. In this context on Thursday February 23rd 2006 he attended a meeting in the offices of the British Hospitality Association in London with David Battersby, ECAI General Secretary and Mair Davison, a member of the ECAI board; he submitted a report of this meeting to the Presidium in March 2006 in 2006 in Killarney, Ireland. On October 5th and 6th 2005, together with Nadine Schintgen, he attended the autumn meeting of the Education and Culture INGO Group at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Nadine returned to Strasbourg pm June 28th 2006 to attend the spring meeting of the same group (see above). In order to promote the AEHT in the Czech Republic Nadine Schintgen made contact with Michal Wittmann, the Czech Honorary Consul in Luxembourg. Following an informal meeting in late 2005, the two parties exchanged contact details of hotel school heads in the Czech Republic and the Czech Tourism Office in Brussels. Letters of introduction were sent out in 2006. On July 2nd at a Czech Folklore event in Trintange, Luxembourg, Nadine met Marketa 15

Patkova, director of ‘Czech Tourism Bruxelles’ and Vendula Raymova, UK director for Czech Airlines, with the purpose of increasing AEHT membership in the Czech Republic. 11. Publications •

Website: www.aeht.lu

Colette Massen of the Alexis Heck Hotel School in Diekirch has been the AEHT web mistress for several years: it is she who periodically updates the information about seminars, conferences, event launches, job offers, etc. Since 2004 thanks to the good offices of the national representatives, the AEHT has begun an update of its information about national education systems in general and about hotel, restaurant and tourism training in particular. The Presidium would like to request all those colleagues who have not yet done so to provide the requested information as soon as possible. In cooperation with the General Secretary, Colette Massen regularly updates the membership list. Members can also read on the website articles written by the AEHT’s journalist Jo Laengy on a variety of subjects, particularly the Annual Conference and Christmas in Europe. We are currently in the process of setting up a new internet site which can present advertisements from our professional partners. This task has been undertaken by Ahti Paju, head of IT at the Kuressaare Ametikool in Kuressaare, Estonia. The AEHT Presidium requests the members to give their opinion about the form and content of the present site, and to contribute to making the future site more attractive by writing articles themselves. •

AEHT 2006 Yearbook on CD-ROM

For 2006 we plan to publish, in time for the Killarney Annual Conference, a promotional CDRom which will consist of three parts: - A presentation of the Association in moving images - Reports and a photo gallery illustrating the AEHT’s activities - An updated address book of the AEHT membership and the list of new Executive Board members (2006-2009) All AEHT members will be requested to check their entry carefully and to notify any changes to the AEHT secretariat, [email protected]. •

Mailing sent out to AEHT members in English and French •

As a result of the financial cuts agreed by the Presidium, since the end of 2005 mail sent by post has been replaced by electronic communication (see next paragraph).

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12. Electronic Communication: On several occasions the AEHT secretariat has been able to support organisers of events having problems registering the minimum required number of participants by sending out a reminder by electronic mail. The secretariat would like to take this opportunity to remind members that a reliable electronic distribution list has become vital for the efficient day-to-day running of the AEHT. The advantageous postal arrangements provided by the Luxembourg government were withdrawn in April 2003, and the urgent requests from event organisers make it essential to use an efficient means of communication. Any members who have not yet given their e-mail address to the head office ([email protected]) are requested to do so as soon as possible. Any members who have done so, but who have not received the communications listed below are asked to check that their server does not identify as SPAM the grouped messages sent by the AEHT. If the messages are identified as SPAM, please register with your system that the sender [email protected] is to be considered a reliable source. During the 2005-2006 academic year the following electronic communications were sent out to the AEHT membership:

Date

Addressees

15th September 2006

All AEHT members

14th September 2006

All AEHT members

4th July 2006 3rd July 2006

To newly elected members of the Executive Board, with copies to the outgoing members All AEHT members

29th June 2006

All AEHT members

23rd May 2006

All AEHT members

19th May 2006 18th May 2006 15th May 2006

All AEHT members All AEHT members All AEHT members

10th May 2006

All AEHT members

3rd May 2006

All AEHT members

4th April 2006 24th March 2006

All AEHT members All AEHT members

24th March 2006 8th March 2006

All AEHT members

Contents Distribution of a survey on good practice in training for tourism in Europe, carried out as part of a European sub-project entitled ‘Needs and Professional Profiles pour Tourism Development’ Information on the number of places remaining for the seminar on ‘Pumpkin-seed Oil in Gastronomy’ in Maribor, en Slovenia Provisional results of the elections for the 2006-2009 Executive Board. Call for candidates for the 2006-2009 Presidium elections Provisional results of the elections for the 2006-2009 Executive Board. Request to send information on any disputed result to the AEHT head office Provisional results of the elections for the 2006-2009 Executive Board Distribution of the CV of an applicant seeking a post in education AEHT Shop Job offer at the Carols Hotel on the Red Sea in Egypt Job offer at the Carols Makadi Resort, Hurghada on the Red Sea in Egypt Invitation and information about Christmas in Europe in Örebro Distribution of a job offer for cooks at the Grand hôtel de la Grotte * * * * in Lourdes, France Reminder of survey of members’ Comenius projects Petition from the European Civic Forum in favour of creating the status of European Association and in favour of granting financial support for organising transnational meetings of associations and NGOs with a view to adapting Europe to a civic and popular society Minutes of the March 4th 2006 meeting of the Executive Board and revised competition rules Announcement of the second barman competition on May 10th in Bled as part of the Bled school’s tenth anniversary celebrations (distribution of an e-mail

All AEHT members

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8th March 2006

All AEHT members

14th February 2006 13th February 2006 3rd February 2006

To organisers of AEHT events

31st January 2006

All AEHT members

20th January 2006 23rd December 2005

To members of the Executive Board

13th December 2005

All AEHT members

7th November 2005 11th – 12th October 2005

All AEHT members taking part in Christmas in Europe in Fundão All AEHT members

27th September 2005

All AEHT members

prepared by Jana Spec) Reminder of the seminar in St Johann (Distribution of an e-mail prepared by Adolf Steindl) Reminder of the rules for the co financing of events by the AEHT Survey of Comenius projects in which AEHT member schools are involved Communication about the ‘HOTELIA Summer 2006’ internal training programme organised at the three hotels of the PAP CORP RESORT at Chalkidiki, Greece. Communication about the 2006 ACCOR placements and about the seminar entitled ‘The World Changes and Traditions Remain: Jewish and Silesian Culinary Arts’ in Gliwice Invitation to the Executive Board in Killarney

All AEHT members All AEHT members

All AEHT members in the European Union

Call for receiving partners for the Leonardo da Vinci programme type A mobility project as part of a scheme to host teachers and students. The Turgutlu Mesleki Eitim Merkezi college/university will enable them to increase their experience and knowledge. Project title: Tourism, Food and Automobile Construction December mailing containing information on the official documents available on the AEHT website (minutes of the Executive Board and General Assembly, various seminars and competitions etc) Communication of the list of participants in Christmas in Europe in Fundão Call for applications by Pärnu College of Tartu University, Estonia, for the post of visiting professor in the Tourism and Hotel Management department Invitation EUROCUP 2005 and the SUPERBE 2006 competition

13. Leonardo da Vinci Project The AEHT, represented by John Rees Smith, is a partner in the highly innovative project coordinated by Cor Koster and his team at Horizon College, Alkmaar, The Netherlands. Several AEHT member schools are also involved: Bad Leonfelden/Austria, Poderbrady/Czech Republic, Kuressaare/Estonia. The other partners are from Belgium, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands and the UK. The main objective of the VIRTEX project, which lasts for three years and which is now in its second year, consists of creating language-learning materials intended for preparing students for placements in companies in the HORECA and tourism sectors in other countries. The languages in the first phase are English and German, and a French version is currently being considered. A pilot version of the materials created thus far was tested at the Sankt Johann languages seminar described above. A beta test version will later be sent out to the AEHT membership with a request to test the materials with students and to send comments to the production team before the release of the final version. The entire AEHT membership will thus benefit directly from the VIRTEX project. For further information please consult regularly the VIRTEX project http://www.waicicu.com/virtexsite/ - now material is regularly put up on the site. 18

website

14. Promotional Material In 2006 the AEHT renewed its stock of pin badges. May we also remind members that highly elegant ties and scarves with the AEHT logo are for sale from the AEHT secretariat ([email protected]) and will be available at the 2006 Annual Conference in Killarney.

September 2006,

Alfonso BENVENUTO AEHT President

Nadine SCHINTGEN AEHT General Secretary

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. 18th Annual Conference in Antalya, Turkey, October 22nd - 27th 2005 ........................... 1 2. Competitions Sub-committee........................................................................................... 3 3. Seminars........................................................................................................................... 4 4. Symposia and Other Events ............................................................................................. 6 5. Christmas in Europe in Fundão, Portugal, December 2nd to 7th 2005.............................. 9 6. Gastronomy for Peace.................................................................................................... 10 7. Teacher Placements in ACCOR Group Units in 2005................................................... 11 8. Teacher Placements in Units of the Jurys Doyle, Premgroup and Masterchefs Groups in 2006.............................................................................................................................. 13 9. Meetings......................................................................................................................... 13 10. Representation.............................................................................................................. 14 11. Publications.................................................................................................................. 16 12. Electronic Communication: ......................................................................................... 17 13. Leonardo da Vinci Project ........................................................................................... 18 14. Promotional Material ................................................................................................... 19

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