How to become a chef? Which was the most popular cocktail of summer 2017? What competencies and skills are essential for a chief waiter? How to open a 10-year-old bottle of wine and win a championship while doing it? These are just some of the secrets revealed to students from Požega, Osijek and Nova Gradiška that visited the tourist resort Valamar Riviera in Poreč on 12th and 13th October as a part of ZND’s program “Observe. Try. Experience.”.
“Young people often have prejudice over certain careers. We are here to give them the big picture and, with it, to show them that work can be extremely fun”, explained Nevena Tolanov, the head of education and training at Valamar Riviera, a major hotel chain in Croatia that can accommodate 56.000 people a day.
The program was satisfactory to both students and teachers. “What’s especially motivating is that ZND and Valamar offer kids the opportunity to experience a five-star hotel as guests. They see a different side of their future employment”, explained Ivan Gašpić from Osijek. “This visit motivated me to try and create a successful career for myself. I have a lot to learn but I also see a lot of potential.”, said Leon Čizmadija, also from Osijek. His colleague student from Požega, Anabela Sulić, added: “By visiting companies we always get to know jobs we did not even know existed. I was, for example, delighted with the job of hotel animators and this is what I want to do in my career”.
Program was attended and successfully finished by 45 students and 6 teachers.