Media Contact:
Elizabeth Ray
FRLA Press Secretary
850.224.2250 x255
ERay@FRLA.org
(Tallahassee, Fla.) – The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is thrilled to congratulate Mid-Florida Tech for winning second place in the Hospitality Tourism and Management Competition (HTMP) International Competition hosted bytheAmerican Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute. The team won more than $20,000 in scholarships to various colleges, including San Diego University, Johnson & Wales University, and Sullivan University at the event held at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa in the Walt Disney World® Resort on April 9th through 11th. The competition challenged student teams to display their hospitality knowledge and skills through a variety of competitive events including a night audit, room inspection, banquet planning, case studies, and knowledge bowl quiz.
“We are so proud of the students from Mid-Florida Tech for representing our state in this international competition and showing the world what Florida hospitality is all about,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “These students are the future of our industryand worked hard to earn scholarships that will allow them to continue their education. They are truly a testament to the success of our statewide educational programs that provide school-to-career training that increases the employability of graduates.”
In addition to their second place finish overall, Mid-Florida Tech won first place in the Knowledge Bowl competition, granting an additional $1,000 Sullivan University scholarship to each team member. Team members include: Angie Grunskyte, Sasha Gatti, Deja Miller, Autumn Butler and their instructor, Pat Novalis.
Scholarships were provided by leading hospitality management schools, including Johnson & Wales, San Diego State University, Sullivan University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Florida International University, as well as AH&LEF. For more information about the competition please click here.
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About the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association
FRLA is Florida’s premier non-profit hospitality industry trade association. Our mission is to ‘Protect, Educate and Promote’ Florida’s $76.1 billion hospitality industry which represents 23% of Florida’s economy, $4.6 billion in sales tax revenue, and nearly 1.1 million employees – making it the state’s number one industry. We offer regulatory compliance and food safety training needs (RCS and SafeStaff®); industry developed career-building high school programs (FRLAEF); sponsor the only event in Florida exclusively serving the restaurant and foodservice industry (FR&L Show, September 7-9, 2014 in Orlando); and we safeguard the needs of the hospitality industry by providing legislative advocacy. We represent and serve more than 10,000 independent and household name members, suppliers, and theme parks. For more information, go to www.FRLA.org and find us on Twitter @FRLAnews, Facebook and YouTube.
About the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute
Established in 1953 as a nonprofit educational foundation of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Educational Institute’s mission is to continue being the preferred provider to the lodging industry, hospitality schools, and related hospitality industries by developing and providing quality resources to train, educate, and certify hospitality professionals worldwide.