Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Tourism attended the 34th European Association of Hotel and Tourism Schools (AEHT) conference and several gastronomy competitions (Culinary Arts, Pastry, Barista, Tourism Destination) held in Tallinn, Estonia and won the first place medal in the Culinary Arts category.
EMU Tourism Faculty Dean Prof. Dr. Hasan Kılıç talked on the topic and said that European Association of Hotel and Tourism Schools has 400 European schools as members. Thus, Prof. Dr. Kılıç added that over 500 students tried their best during the competitions. Dean Prof. Dr. Kılıç expressed that EMU student Selma Hulusi who competed in Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management categories and won a golden medal is a pride for EMU family and, emphasized the importance of attending such international events in terms of promoting both our country as well as our university.
Saying that attending an international competition contributes the students a lot in regards to vision and helps them to improve their self-confidence, Prof. Dr. Kılıç underlined that as EMU Tourism Faculty, they make every effort to reach the top in terms of quality with their physical, academic and international education.
Prof. Dr. Kılıç expressed his happiness that they returned to the island with bronze and silver medals in previous years, and that they won the gold medal in “Hospitality Management” last year, and this year they won the gold medal for EMU. Prof. Dr. Kılıç stated that they participated in the general assembly of the events held for the 34th time this year as the Faculty of Tourism and they took steps to initiate joint studies by coming together with different tourism and hotel management schools from many European countries.
Stating that EMU Tourism Faculty strengthens its success in ShanghaiRanking with the accreditations and international memberships it holds in the field of Tourism and Hospitality as well as Gastronomy, Prof. Dr. Kılıç said that it is another source of pride for EMU to have Kurtuluş Özbaşar, EMU Faculty of Tourism academic staff member, to take part as a jury member in gastronomy competitions once again. Prof. Dr. Kılıç stated that in addition to the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department, which is a member of the World Association of Chefs (WACS), will participate in the competitions, Özbaşar also serves as a WACS officially approved jury member at these events.
Expressing that such achievements motivate both them and the students, and make an extremely important contribution to the promotion of our country, Prof. Dr. Kılıç shared his gratitude to all the teachers who supported and trained the students in their development, and to the EMU Rector's Office, who provided all kinds of support in the realization of this participation.