Hospitality, Food & Tourism Takeover Day 2018

Young people from across Stirling and Clackmannanshire visited Forth Valley College yesterday for a flavour of what the Hospitality, Food and Tourism industries have to offer. It was all hands on deck as local businesses shared their knowledge and expertise with over 180 pupils who donned their aprons to take part in cooking challenges and interactive demonstrations facilitated by Forth Valley College and personal chef Mark Heirs; explored the mixology of a 'Mocktail Masterclass' with Cromlix to the mixology of what makes a great salad dressing with Forth Environment Link and The Food Assembly, and heightened their senses with a 'Sensory' workshop from Caledonian Produce. Claire from Egglicious, alongside Henrietta 1, 2, 3 and 4, gave insight into what it is like to be a young business owner whilst a keynote address was given by Fergus Wood on the opportunities within Tourism.

"I loved the interactive activities" said Isabelle from Dunblane High
Friend Rowan also commented: "I never expected there were so many jobs within this industry."

With Forth Valley ever growing as a popular tourist destination, pupils were given an insight into the jobs they can aspire to within the Tourism sector with a  '5* Visitor Attraction'  workshop from Historic Environment Scotland, 'Event Management' sessions with Party@thepalace and The Highland Hotel, and an inspiring glimpse at marketing from Visit Scotland. Scotland’s Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment, Mairi Gougeon, also dropped in and found herself immersed in all the day had to offer.

“We are delighted that the Minister could come along today to see at first hand, how these experiences can inspire our future hospitality professionals. This is always a fantastic event to help give secondary school pupils a taste of what the hospitality industry has to offer and we were delighted to host it once again at our Stirling Campus, which offers state-of-the-art facilities in relation to this sector. We are passionate about events like these and the feedback we have already received has shown this to have been a successful event and we will be looking to hold similar events in the future to allow pupils to sample these excellent experiences of the hospitality industry.”
Fiona Brown, Vice Principal for Learning and Teaching, Forth Valley College

"It was great to get different perspectives on what young people know about Visit Scotland and hear from them how we can inspire them to enter the sector as young people are our ambassadors."
Laura Brown, Industry Communications & Social Media Executive, Visit Scotland

“Springboard Takeover Days are proving to be a fantastic way to raise the profile of an exciting and varied industry with real job prospects. These events bring together future potential recruits with industry employers. Events like these also draw pupils’ attention to the many local opportunities that exist in the sector.” 
Vicki Sutherland, Head of East Region – Springboard Scotland

For more highlights from the Hospitality, Food & Tourism Takeover Day check out the slideshow below.