APPROXIMATELY 18 students and two faculty members from Florida International University (FIU) completed a week-long internship at Beaches Ocho Rios where they were immersed in a hands-on experience of the hotel and tourism industry.

The students, who arrived in Jamaica last Monday afternoon, were treated to a seaside welcome reception at Beaches Ocho Rios by the resort’s East Beach, nestled on the bay head beach section of the property.

The internship is part of the recently formed partnership between Sandals Resorts International (SRI), The University of the West Indies, Sandals Corporate University, and FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, known as the Gordon “Butch” Stewart International School of Hospitality and Tourism. The students are the first set to travel to Jamaica as part of the programme that will be ongoing.

Against the backdrop of a torch-lined beach, with croton plants as table centrepieces, the students were given a hearty, Jamaican-style welcome and briefed on what to expect from the week-long experience.

Charles Blacher, general manager of Beaches Ocho Rios, encouraged the students to fully immerse in the Jamaican culture and get the most from the experience.

Shawn DaCosta, chief operating officer at SRI, emphasised that for SRI, education is key and that there was no better place to be educated than with “the company that really understands the all-inclusive industry”.

“There are so many positions in hospitality, and I am sure each of you are looking at different areas of hospitality that you are studying at FIU that you want to gravitate or get back into, or even going back to your country or region that you’re from. A part of what we are trying to do is expose you to that. The company has about 17,000 employees across our 19 hotels — and it sounds like a lot for just six thousand rooms — but we are a very labour-intensive company and there is an opportunity for everybody in the Caribbean to grow within the Caribbean and to grow within hospitality so this partnership for us is one that’s very important. And as we begin to forge you will understand more what the real-life hospitality is, and we’ll be able to send a lot of our students, a lot of our team members, to be able to educate themselves in FIU as well as to grow them in hospitality,” DaCosta said.

He added: “While you are getting the education at FIU think about how you will give back to your respective countries or cities — that’s what’s important. You have to find a way to give back, so even if you don’t do it now, how do you do it in the future? That’s what we are all about; we are all about giving back through the Sandals Foundation. It is all about what we do for the environment, what we do for the communities, what we do for our team members and education. Each of our hotels sponsor a school in the region we are in — and it is not lip service; it’s something that comes from the heart. Everything we do is how we give back to those communities and bring the best out of the communities into our hotels. Get as much as you want from this experience. You will be able to compare notes with what you see in school versus what you see in reality — there is always a difference in both — but if you don’t have that good, sound education you are getting today it is going to be difficult to understand a lot of what we’re doing.”

Throughout the week the students toured several Sandals hotels in the Ocho Rios region before they were paired with mentors in different areas of the hotel to include concierge, front desk, engineering, human resources, environmental safety and health, sales, weddings, and working alongside the chefs.

At the end of the experience FIU student Fiona Butler said she had little to no expectations for the week but yet was left impressed with the Sandals brand.

“We signed up not knowing what we were getting into. I really had no idea so I came in with little to no expectations and was blown away, and I learned way more than I thought I could. It was very eye-opening to see everything that goes into a resort like this and I’m just very thankful; and I know all of us had so many experiences we’re going to take away and carry with us, not only in our careers but in our personal lives. I just want to keep extending gratitude to the team and the brand for everything you guys have done for us this week,” Butler said.

Further, Alariya Jones McMillan, another FIU student, lauded the customer service she experienced at all levels while on the resort.

“The customer service you guys teach your staff, or just the natural customer service that they have, is very good. You’re walking around the whole resort [and] all I see is smiles and people saying, ‘Hi’. Even if they didn’t know I was an FIU student, obviously they treat me like they treat everyone else so it was really amazing. I made a lot of friends with the staff and I am going to miss everyone here,” she said.

And Todd Houston Smith who spent time across four departments — engineering, human resources, environmental safety and health, and sales — expressed gratitude to the Sandals team for its hospitality and noted that he was even able to complete outstanding coursework during his stay at Beaches.

He said: “I want to thank Mr Blacher and his entire team because this is a very busy time for them… I have a huge appreciation for how much work it takes to keep this place running.”