On April 21, HUOT Technical Center Hospitality students took first place in the 2016 Hospitality and Tourism Management Program (HTMP) State Invitational at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord. In addition to a trophy, individual medals and a $1,000 scholarship to their school’s HTMP program, each member of the team was awarded scholarship money to Johnson Whales University and the UNH Hospitality Management Program.
Emily Owens, Education Coordinator at the New Hampshire Lodging & Restaurant Association, referred to the event as “New Hampshire’s premier hospitality industry competition.”
“During this intense competition, participating teams demonstrate their knowledge of the hospitality industry by participating in five separate contests based on real life events and situations,” she said. “From room inspections and accounting night audits to a jeopardy like knowledge bowl, these students put their skills to the test.”
According to Owens, the competition includes the following:
- Room Inspection – Students must analyze a hotel room to find a specific number of “errors” made by the housekeeping department. Examples of “errors” are missing towels, trash not emptied, remotes not working, etc.
- Night Audit and Hotel Accounting Calculations – Students must complete a night audit for a fictional situation and guests. Students must also complete common hotel accounting calculations.
- Case Studies – Students must analyze and present solutions to three different case studies. The case studies focus on the areas of: Food and Beverage, Guest Services and Sales and Marketing. All three case studies are relative to the hospitality industry.
- Hospitality Project – Students are given basic information with specific parameters regarding size and budget and must plan an event from beginning to end. Students need to include a detailed menu, room layout, event timeline and completed BEO. Students will then “pitch” their event to the judges.
- Knowledge Bowl – The knowledge bowl is a jeopardy like contest where teams compete against each other, testing their knowledge of hospitality vocabulary.
As for the kinds of skills students learn within the program, Owens cited skills relative to the hospitality industry, specifically hotel and lodging, including guest services and operations, housekeeping, sales and marketing, and maintenance among others. Other skills include event planning and hospitality leadership skills, including operational and managerial skills.
“It is important for students to learn these skills so that we have educated and talented individuals heading into the hospitality industry,” she said. “The NH hospitality industry is a significant source of revenue to the state and is an ever growing industry. It is important that our schools continue to produce quality employees for the industry.”
<h4>About HTMP<h4
HTMP is a two-year school-to-career program developed by the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI). HTMP is designed to introduce high school juniors and seniors to careers in the hospitality industry. Through classroom activities, internships and comprehensive exams, students have the chance to earn national certification. For more information Click Here.