Sixteen Georgian College Hospitality Administration – Hotel and Resort,  Hospitality Management – Hotel and Resort and Culinary Management students packed their bags, and their textbooks, for the trip of a lifetime last fall.

The group travelled to Strasbourg, France, to complete the third semester of their respective programs and explore the heart of the European hospitality and tourism industry.

In addition to a full schedule of classes, the students worked on placements in local hotels, restaurants and patisseries in Strasbourg as well as in nearby Kiehl, Germany. In between their placements, they had time off to travel across Europe.

“This was a great opportunity to combine my love of world travel with studying abroad and experiencing the hospitality and tourism trade in a different part of the world,” said second-year Hotel and Resort Administration student Ashley Bartley. “Georgian’s Study Abroad program made me realize that I wanted to pursue a career in the industry and helped me narrow my focus.”

While there, Bartley worked at the Hotel Beaucour-Baumann, a prominent hotel located in downtown Strasbourg.

During their semester abroad, the students lived in the Château de Pourtales, a 200-year-old castle located on the outskirts of Strasbourg. When they weren’t working, they took part in school-organized trips to Germany, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

Jennifer McAlpine, a second-year Hotel and Resort Administration student, worked for local catering company Kieffer Traiteur. There, she served at a variety of casual and fine dining events for gatherings of 25 to 300 people. Apart from having some difficulty communicating with a boss who didn’t speak English, McAlpine says the trip was a great experience.

“I’d recommend the Study Abroad program to anyone,” she says. “This was by far one of the best experiences of my life.”

The Study Abroad program was made possible by a successful partnership between Georgian and Schiller International University, a private school with facilities and campuses across Europe. The university provided accommodation, ground transportation and flight arrangements for the students and faculty members. Georgian is among the first Ontario colleges to offer a full semester of learning abroad.

For more information on the Study Abroad program, contact Bryan Hunt at (705) 728-1968, ext. 1470.

PHOTO: Georgian students (l-r) Ashley Bartley, Katie Wignall, Jennifer McAlpine and Reba Clark took part in Georgian’s Study Abroad program last semester. They had the opportunity to work for a catering company in France and travel across Europe.