OCHO RIOS, St Ann — More than 50 Level 2 commis students chefs from HEART/ NTA Boys Town campus on Monday had the benefit of experiencing the tourism product first-hand during tours of Sandals Royal Caribbean and Sandals Montego Bay.

The interactive tours, which featured sessions with the resorts’ executive chefs, is part of the resort chain’s Tourism in School Programme, aimed at giving tourism students a chance to be hands-on as well as interact with experts in the various departments on property.

Sandals Royal Caribbean and Sandals Montego Bay’s general managers Gerald Christ and Carl Beviere welcomed the students to the resorts, while expressing the hope that they would find the experience quite meaningful. They also gave a general overview of the property and its operations.

“The Tourism in School experience at the resort is designed to give hospitality and high school students a chance to see our tourism product up-front, as many have only done the theory but haven’t been to resorts such as those we have in the Montego Bay regions, and so far the response has been phenomenal,” said Sandals’ Regional Public Relations Manager Ian Spencer, who along with Regional Public Relations Coordinator Sherine Williams conducted the tours at both resorts. .

Spencer pointed out that many of the students have become so enamoured with what they have seen at the resort’s that they have expressed an interest on entering the hospitality industry after graduating.

The Boy’s Town HEART Academy students, headed by instructor Marva Watson, toured the various food and beverage outlets in particular, as well as the other areas on properties and were addressed by executive chefs from both resorts — Delroy Dennis and Gianluca Dicostanzo.

The executive chefs pointed out the operations of the kitchen and stressed the need for students to not just have the practical skills but also the right attitude in order to gain meaningful employment as chefs within the industry.

Students were also encouraged to have a passion for the profession as it included long hours and sacrifice in order to rise to the top. They executive chefs further stressed the need for constant education if students were to remain on the cutting edge of industry practices. A lively question and answer session ensured following the lectures.

“We were very pleased with operations at Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Royal Caribbean and the experiences received,” Watson noted. “For many of the students, it was their first time touring a resort of this size and prestige, and they really soaked up all the information available.”