I-HOTELIER: 15 years of proving the professionalism of HSU Hospitality students

On the evening of August 14, the final round and awarding of the 2023 of Hoa Sen University (HSU) took place at (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City). This is the 15th year the contest has been held for students across the country.

I-HOTELIER is a contest in the field of restaurants and hotels for students across the country organized by students of the Faculty of Tourism – Restaurant – Hotel, Hoa Sen University with a total prize value of up to 350 million VND. The goal of the contest is to exploit and train young human resources with high professional skills in the service industry, becoming a bridge between students and schools and businesses.

The contest attracted contestants from many participating universities such as: University of Social Sciences and Humanities – VNU-HCMC, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Ton Duc Thang University, University of Economics and Finance Ho Chi Minh City, Van Hien University….

Accordingly, I-Hotelier 2023 will include 3 rounds: Round 1: Video Clip or Casting Online about the passion and potential of the Restaurant – Hotel industry; Round 2: Practice exam on NHKS – Front Office -Housekeeping – Food & Beverage operating skills. Round 3: The exam focuses on professional knowledge about human resource development trends in the Restaurant – Hotel industry. Through the qualifying and semi-final rounds, the 18 best contestants participated in the finale.

Previously, they were organized to participate in hotel tour activities, workshops, talkshows with experts who are leaders and managers at big hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, instructed on skills in the tourism service profession such as table layout, housekeeping, manners, how to communicate with customers in 5-star restaurants and hotels. 2 months of I-Hotelier is not only a competition but also an opportunity for young people to experience the reality of their careers and improve their knowledge and skills for future jobs.

In the final round, 18 contestants will be divided into 6 teams. Groups of candidates will conduct the exam in the form of debating (according to Asian Parliamentary (AP) debating rules. Team members will take turns arguing to prove that their group’s point of view is a persuasive one. The content of the debate is the core values of 3 Hotel brands including Rosewood, Marriott and IHG. The debate time is 25 minutes. Some values you must defend such as: Individual responsibility creates the success of the collective; The human factor is more important than the environmental factor in the process of sustainable development; Workplace culture is not immune to the existence of discrimination…

The 5 individuals with the best performance in the group competition will advance to the individual round, Q&A with the judges. Questions about professional knowledge in the field of Restaurant – Hospitality. The contestant with the highest total individual score will become the winner of I-Hotelier 2023.

In addition to being a useful playground for contestants, I – Hotelier is also a project competition professionally operated and organized by HSU students. From the stages of brainstorming, recruiting contestants, communication, calling for sponsors, organizing the event are all prepared by you with the guidance of the lecturers.

The final results are as follows:
INDIVIDUAL TABLES:
– First prize: Huynh Gia Diem – student of Hoa Sen University
– Second prize: Vo Hanh Tam – student of Gia Dinh University
– Third prize: Nguyen Thi Hong Van – student of Sonadezi College of Technology

GROUP TABLE:
– First prize – Happy group: Pham Ngoc Phat – student of Hoa Sen University; Vo Hanh Tam – student of Gia Dinh University; Kieu Thi Thanh Hoai – Student of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics.
– Second prize – Gracious Trio group: Nguyen Thi Hong Van – student of Sonadezi College of Technology; Nguyen Thi Hue – Student of University of Finance – Marketing; Le Thi Thanh Hoa – student of Hoa Sen University.
– Third prize – SOS group: Le Thi Ngoc Quyen – student of University of Finance – Marketing; Hoang Hai Van Kieu – student of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics; Huynh Gia Diem – student of Hoa Sen University.

Ms. Tong Thi Nhi Ha – Director of L&D (Learning & Development) Vinpearl Landmark 81, judge of the contest and the main sponsor of the program shared: “Among many choices, we decided to accompany Hoa Sen and I-hotelier students because of the prestige of the contest. I believe that, over the past 15 years, the I-Hotelier competition has given you the opportunity to rub shoulders with practice, work with experts. At the same time, seeing successful examples in the profession also helps you to be inspired, so that you continue to love and succeed with this service profession.”

I – Hotelier is not only an opportunity for you to practice what you have learned in class but also helps the young generation, both contestants and organizers nurture their passion for the hospitality industry after 2 difficult years due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Thereby contributing to improving the quality of young human resources in this field.