Approximately 150 Grade 6 students of the Ave Maria Girls Primary School last Thursday visited the Royal by Rex Resorts to familiarize themselves with the hotel and its different departments.
The students got some insight into the operations of the Front Desk (Reception), Human Resources, Royal Spa, Housekeeping, Laundry, Food & Beverage (Kitchen & Restaurants), Gardens & Grounds. In every instance, the department head or manager gave the students an overview of day to day operations, procedures and challenges and answered questions from students and their teachers.
Ave Maria Girls Primary is the adopted school of The Royal by Rex Resorts. Grade 6 teacher at Ave Maria Primary Rochelle Jn. Baptiste says this visit to the hotel was important to enable students to see first-hand how a hotel operates. She explained: “Prior to this visit our students may have thought the hotel was just for tourists but now they realize that they themselves can be tourist. So they get to think of what they would like as tourists and what is it that St Lucia has to do to sustain the vital tourism industry.”
Jn. Baptiste said the outing was meant to expose the students to the various career choices which exist in the hotel industry and broaden their understanding so that they can sensitize their peers and their parents on the importance of the tourism industry. She said the exercise was also intended to dispel the notion that there are mostly low-paying jobs in the hospitality industry. Jn. Baptiste explained that these students have just written the Common Entrance Exams and are on the verge of entering secondary school and it’s typically about the time when they begin to give some thought to what careers they would like to pursue in life.
From observation, Jn. Baptiste said: “When we went into the kitchen we could see that there was some interest among some of the students about the various dishes which were being prepared and the various ways of preparing our local foods to make them tastier and more presentable.”
11-year-old Chenoa Evans described the visit to The Royal as “a very good experience.” She said: “I learnt things that I never knew went on in the hotel. My favourite department is the Spa. It looks like a good place to relax and set your mind free.” Chenoa expressed a desire to return to The Royal for her birthday on July 29.
General Manager at The Royal, Richard Michelin said: “We are excited about the visit of the students from our adopted school, Ave Maria Girls Primary. We gave them an extensive tour of the property, showed them what goes into running a hotel and gave them a nice treat. The students seemed very enthusiastic and curious about the industry. We’re hopeful that there are future employees of Rex Resorts among them.”
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