A group of French apprentice chefs arrived in Shannon this week to begin a seven day study trip exploring the culinary culture of the West of Ireland. The 12 visiting apprentice chefs from Centre de Formation d’Apprentis located in Bourges were immersed in West of Ireland culinary culture by visiting Irish food producers, cooking with Irish chefs and tasting local artisan food.

The first three days of the study tour were hosted by Shannon College of Hotel Management, where students from the two colleges studied together in language classes and culinary workshops.

“Hosting the Centre de Formation d’Apprentis study tour is a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase the finest of Co. Clare’s regional cuisine and artisan products,” says Phillip J. Smyth, Director of Shannon College of Hotel Management. “The visit also provides students here in Shannon College with an opportunity to exchange ideas with the apprentice chefs and develop a better understanding of French gastronomic cuisine,” he added.  

The study trip is continuing to Galway this weekend, but not before the team of visiting apprentice chefs prepare and present a Gala Dinner at Shannon College of Hotel Management to representatives from local restaurants, businesses and college faculty. 

Bright future ahead for new students at renowned college

By Barry Duggan

Irish Independent, Monday September 12 2011

WHEN the Shannon College of Hotel Management opened in 1951, its founder Brendan O’Regan was warned he would struggle to find jobs for 12 qualified hotel managers in Ireland.

Sixty years later, there are 2,000 graduates working across the world and the Co Clare college’s reputation is such it claims each graduate is guaranteed a job.

Almost five years of study and work experience begins today for the 84 first-year students at the college.

Half of this year’s class came from the Seychelles, China, Korea, the US and Europe to study due to the reputation the 400-student college has among the world’s top hotels.

College director Philip Smyth was on hand to greet the new students as they arrived last Friday.

“The combination we have with work placements, where students earn, and the academic courses seems to attract them,” he said.

Rachel Jameson graduated in 1993 and works as head of organisational development for The Doyle Collection, which owns The Westbury in Dublin. “I have never been out of work since I graduated,” she said.

- Barry Duggan

China’s leading national English-language newspaper recently featured Irish hospitality education and the growing trend of Chinese students choosing to study in Ireland and specifically to study at Shannon College of Hotel Management!

Feature: Irish hospitality education draws Chinese students

DUBLIN, September 27 (Xinhua) — A new semester has begun at Ireland’s Shannon College of Hotel Management with 32 Chinese students enrolled this year at the world-renowned school.

The college offers a bachelor of business in international hotel management and also a certificate in English language studies for its international students. The high standards in the college have made it one of the top hotel management schools in the world and students travel from around the globe to Shannon for their training.

Director of the college, Phillip J. Smyth, said the high level of education and practical experience offered to students prepared them for working life after their degree.

“I think we offer a package. First of all, we have an honors level education up to level 8 and we combine that with practical work here in the college and also two year long industry placementswhere students experience the real work of hotels under the college’s supervision, organizedby the college at an operative level and then at a trainee management level,” said Smyth.

“We’re in our 60th year and we can actually say that for the last 60 years we’ve always succeeded in having all our students who have passed their examinations in positions, a lot of them in supervisory or junior management positions when they graduate,” Smyth added.

There are few colleges in Ireland and indeed in Europe that can boast 100 percent employment after graduation and the Shannon College of Hotel Management is well known in China for its success in hospitality education.

Hotel management lecturer Sean T. Ruane said China’s economic growth meant opportunities in hotel management in the country would be increasing rapidly in the next few years.

“Most of the major companies around the world would look to China as a growing market and a growing middle class market,” he said.

“They’re going to have disposable income to spend so the Chinese students that would come to us would be aware of that and would be positioning themselves to go back and manage hotels like that in the future. That would be one of our key strengths here, we actually were one of the first people on the ground in China recruiting students to come and do hospitality management courses in Ireland,” Ruane said.

One Chinese student, Jia Liu, who is in her third year at the college and has just finished a year long hotel placement, said the combination of classroom education and practical experience was an excellent way to learn the skills necessary for hotel management.

“For Asian students I think, we don’t have experience at all before we come to this college because we get money from our parents and we focus on our study so we don’t know what is hotel management. I know it in the past year’s work placement. At first we have no experience, but after twelve months I can do accommodation supervisor so it’s a fairly big step for me and I think for other students as well,” she said.

The business and tourism sectors in the west coast of Ireland have always been an attraction for visitors and investors and Phillip J. Smyth said the mutual cooperation between China and Ireland has been a factor in the success of the college.

“I think trade relations between Ireland and China are developing all the time,” said Smyth. “There has been a huge increase in the Chinese hotel industry, there are lots and lots of top quality hotels being built and have been built in China following the Olympics and the WorldExpo and we can help China by giving some of its students the benefit of Ireland’s expertise in hotel management.”

Smyth said the college always welcomed Chinese students as they were focused and had strong business minds.

“They’re very well suited for hospitality; they’re very courteous, very welcoming, and very calm. I think the combination of our education and the ability and talents of Chinese students work very well together.”

The students arriving from China each year are faced with a significant culture gap but Smyth said the safety of the country as well as the typical Irish friendliness helped students to integrate quickly.

Mucong Niu, like Jia Liu, has just finished a year long work placement in County Cork in the southwest of the country and has developed a distinctive Irish accent and an admiration for the country’s sights and traditions.

“Ireland is an absolutely lovely place, it’s just like a big garden, there are plants everywhere and the air is absolutely fresh. You can get everything you want, enjoy your life, have a cup of tea and sit and enjoy the sunset as well,” he said.

The Shannon College of Hotel Management’s strong educational program continues to attract increasing numbers of Chinese students each year and as Irish-Chinese relations continue to grow, this is just another link to develop between the two countries.

Link to feature: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/xinhua/2011-09-28/content_3915037.html

As part of the recent 60th anniversary celebrations, Shannon College of Hotel Management launched a book of research papers; Tourism and Hospitality Research in Ireland – Current Challenges and Future Opportunities. The book is an edited selection of papers presented at the Tourism and Hospitality Research in Ireland Conference (THRIC) held at Shannon College of Hotel Management in June 2010.

The Conference Papers

The research papers reflect the challenges faced by the global tourism and hospitality industry such as: worldwide recession, contracting markets, sustainability and meeting the ever-increasing customer expectations. The conference also looked to the future opportunities as acknowledged by research papers presented covering such diverse topics as the current educational needs of students within the hospitality and tourism sector and future marketing initiatives.

Editors

Further Information

For further information or to request a copy of the book, please contact one of the editors (contact emails above).