Pretoria, South Africa – 2018: Capital Hotel School , one of the leading training institutions for Hospitality Management and Professional Cookery, recently partnered with The Blue Train , South Africa’s ‘Blue Jewel’ and most well-known tourism icon. Second year Hospitality Management students and all-round highest performers, Catalina de Sousa and Marli Barnard were recently invited aboard the legendary Blue Train for a unique practical training experience. We chat to them about their experience aboard this legacy train – both as part of the team and as a guest of The Blue Train.
Catalina who has always had a passion for the hospitality industry and one day wants to own and run her own hotel says that, “The Blue Train is without a doubt one of the most pleasant places to do your practical training!” The team aboard The Blue Train were incredibly friendly and helpful and my experience was amazing!” Amidst learning how to serve guests when the floor is unstable and moving and making beds in the most confined spaces, Catalina was also exposed to beautiful parts of South Africa and managed to explore a bit of Cape Town too.
Marli, who has a passion for working with people and event co-ordination, dreams of one day becoming a Sommelier – a trained and knowledgeable wine professional. She was equally as excited by the practical experience she received on The Blue Train and highlights that some of her fondest moments was getting to experience the very best of South Africa with guests from all over the world and working with professional people that know the industry.
The students share some valuable tips that they learnt – for those wishing to take a trip or work aboard The Blue Train
· Pack lightly as there is not a lot of space in your room.
· If you have big suitcases, make sure to remove everything that you need for the journey and allow it to be stored in the storage carriage
· It gets quite cold during the morning so be prepared and bring extra jackets
· Wear comfortable shoes as you could easily walk more than 15,000 steps a day
· Get your camera ready and take as many pictures as you can because there is so many amazing and breath-taking views along the way
· Always make sure that you are in the observation room when the sun is about to set – it is beautiful!
Capital Hotel School believe that if you have the desire, passion and enthusiasm to excel in this industry, nothing in the world will stop you achieving your goals, and this experience was a stepping stone for these ladies in realising their dreams and ambitions and making it a reality.
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About Capital Hotel School
Capital Hotel School (CHS) is a leading hospitality management and professional cookery training establishment based in Pretoria. Since inception, CHS prides itself as a school that delivers quality courses that are accredited on a national and international level. CHS recently also developed, a blended learning approach – which affords students and full time employees in the hospitality industry an opportunity to upskill themselves or to acquire full qualifications within their field of expertise. This platform, named Hospitalit-e successfully incorporates regular online, practical and face-to-face tutor training and assessment; essential components to guarantee the success of hospitality training programmes.