Since last week, the 2nd year of the Charles Péguy Institute, a higher school specializing in the tourism, events and hotel trades, have been coming back to school for practical work. They are 20% of the total of the pupils to cross on the site… Françoise Meessen, the director of the Institute located in Louvain-la-Neuve, would not have missed this authorized resumption of part of the face-to-face lessons for nothing at all. world: “We owed them this bowl of oxygen, it does them a lot of good! Especially since the workshop on public speaking, leadership or even the computer graphics course are almost impossible to organize virtually.”.
For the past year, the Institute has adapted to the dramatic situation. “In March 2020, in 48 hours, we found platforms to give distance lessons and trained teachers to continue teaching”, Recalls Ms. Meessen, who explains that at the start of the school year in September, the Institute had rented all the conference rooms of the Martin’s Hotel for almost 15 days to ensure a safe return in person to all students of the 3 years.
The teachers, all professionals in the sectors of activity most affected by the health crisis, also provided their lessons. And the students showed resourcefulness and initiative: “70% of our 3rd year students have found internships. The remaining 30% preferring to keep their initial internship and worked on their thesis instead”. Most of them did this 6-month internship remotely but “They fell back on their feet and worked on internships that we would not have thought of! They got down to fairs, virtual markets, tourist diaries or even escape game creations with increased motivation.”, Points out Françoise Meessen.
IT and ethical travel
This year will have shown that new technologies are now an integral part of the curriculum and courses such as digital strategy or multicultural management will also be reinforced in this direction. But above all, it will have been the opportunity to see that the tourism sector in particular will change in the long term with the development of local tourism, more ethical, more sustainable and more human travel: mass tourism which was not already more obvious is going to have to be rethought. “And with the creativity that we have seen, the agility to bounce back, we realize that it is not too late to imagine travel differently ”.
This theme will be developed during virtual open houses organized by the Institute this Saturday, March 20, throughout the day. Professors, professionals from the sectors concerned, alumni will also discuss the future of students in the tourism, hotel and event sectors, “whose careers will evolve but will not disappear, far from it”, concludes the director.
The objective of these first open days is to show as concretely as possible the opportunities that will arise in the months to come. “It is also a good way for future students to convince their parents that their vocation will lead to a career plan full of opportunities.“, emphasizes Diane Vanderweyen, project manager at Charles Péguy.
> www.meetyourfuture.be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday March 20.