Hotel Managers of the Future – Well Equipped for Challenges Ahead

Matti Reuter (left), who trained in the Clarion Hotel Sligo, was named Graduate of the Year 2011, is pictured with Sean O’Malley, Manager of Education Operations, Fáilte Ireland.

Hotel Managers of the Future – Well Equipped for Challenges Ahead

Eighteen trainee hotel managers this week graduated as part of the Fáilte Ireland Trainee Manager Development Programme (TMDP) at a ceremony held in the Castleknock Hotel & Country Club, Dublin.  One of the students, Matti Reuter, from Germany, trained at the Clarion Hotel in Sligo, was awarded ‘Graduate of the Year 2011’ for his academic achievements and his contribution to the hotel over the past three years.

The programme provides an ideal platform for people who want to kick start their career within tourism and is a recognised distance education route to training as a hotel manager.  Students complete three years of rigorous on-the-job training and academic studies in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) whilst employed in a hotel. The programme is a collaboration between Fáilte Ireland, the Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI), the Irish Hotel Federation (IHF) and Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT).

Sean O’Malley, Manager of Education Operations, Fáilte Ireland, said:

“We are delighted to announce that the TMDP has reached an exciting new milestone in its 23 year history, having produced over 500 graduates, many of whom are in senior management positions in hotels nationally and internationally. The programme has now been completely reviewed and validated as a three-year Bachelor of Arts Degree in Hotel Management and will be delivered in the Institute of Technology Tralee in February of this year, in partnership with approved hotels and the Irish Hotel Federation.  Tralee Institute of Technology are currently taking applications for the new Degree level TMDP and hotels are encouraged to nominate Trainee Managers for the programme. 

We, in Fáilte Ireland, are confident that the skills of these eighteen TMDP graduates will make a valuable contribution to the industry, helping it sustain a truly professional and progressive workforce, comparable with the best in the world. ”

ENDS

For further information please contact:
Catherine Whelan, Fáilte Ireland
01 8847181 / 087 6449572

List of Graduates

Matti Reuter, Graduate of the Year  - Clarion Hotel Sligo
Diarmuid Hayes - Glenview Hotel, Co Wicklow
Sandhya Purlackee - Glenlo Abbey Hotel, Galway
Blanka Szymanska - Glenlo Abbey Hotel, Galway
Jason Moore Abbey  - Court Hotel, Nenagh, Co Tipperary
Niall McEvoy - Ferrycarrig Hotel, Wexford
Colm O'Leary - Brandon House Hotel and Spa, Co Wexford
Eoin Jacob - Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny
Vincent Flood - Hotel Kilmore, Co Cavan
Patrick Hogan - Portlaoise Heritage Hotel, Laois
Dharam Kumar Beharry - The D Hotel, Louth
Krzysztof Jastrzebski - Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel, Limerick
Lorraine Kennedy - Fitzgerald's Vienna Woods, Cork
Monica Dunne - Tower Hotel, Cork
Suzie Conway - Aghadoe Heights Hotel, Kerry
Sebastian Block - Knock House Hotel, Co Mayo
Stephen Rogers - Hotel Westport , Co Mayo
Asta Balciuniene - Park Inn Mulranny, Westport, Co Mayo

Note for editor

Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, was established in 2003 to guide and promote tourism as a leading indigenous component of the Irish economy.

The tourism and hospitality industry employs an estimated 170,000 people and generates almost €5 billion in revenue a year.

Past graduates of the TMDP include: John O’Flynn, Manager, Foto Island Resort; Stephen Hanna, Manager, Camden Court Hotel and Chairman Dublin IHF branch; Liam Doyle former manager of the Shelbourne Hotel and Michael Magner, owner/manager, Vienna Woods Hotel.

The graduates received the following awards: A Higher Certificate in Business Studies (Hotel Management) awarded by GMIT and accredited by HETAC and placed on the National Framework of Qualifications at level 6 and a joint IHF, IHI, Fáilte Ireland Certificate in Hotel and Catering Management. Graduates also received membership of the Irish Hospitality Institute.

Back