On Friday 7 May, Richmond upon Thames College’s second year Travel and Tourism Level 3 students hosted their annual Destination Show. As in previous years, students collaborated with the Catering department to serve authentic food from around the world at the event.
The Destination Show is part of the students’ conference and events course unit, involving planning and preparation through to the execution stage. Rebekah Francis, Travel and Tourism student at RuTC, said, “The experience of planning and preparing the Destination Show was very rewarding, it showcased my communication skills as I had to cooperate with classmates as a team. The event involved contacting certain departments within the College such as marketing, estates, technicians, and catering to gather supplies for the event. I feel this will definitely benefit me in my future career because it taught me how to compose professional emails and keep an eye on what was going on as the event date got closer. I learned that events can be stressful at times, but also fun and it definitely paid off in the end as I got to see everyone enjoying themselves.”
On the day, students presented different countries to visitors, ranging from Azerbaijan to Madagascar, Laos, Papa New Guinea, Guatemala and many more. Students informed visitors about each country’s tourism, population, language, cities, national treasures and, of course, the cuisine. In order to host an authentic show, students worked together with teachers and students from the catering department, who planned, prepared and served dishes of each nation. Visitors could enjoy shashlik kebab from Kazakhstan, bola bola polana from Mozambique, empanadas from Guatemala, dolmas leaves from Armenia, steamed prawn dumplings from Brunei and a whole lot more. The show was held in the College’s training restaurant, The View, on the top floor of the new building in Twickenham, which gave visitors a great insight into the space and its potential once it can be opened to the public.
Hannah Talabany, Travel and Tourism teacher at RuTC, said, “I am extremely proud of my students, they have managed to execute an excellent event, despite all the challenges they faced this year and months of lockdown - the event was a great success. I was also impressed with the amount of people turning up to the event and so pleased to receive very positive feedback on the venue, displays, facilities and catering from all staff and students who attended.”
