Local GOTAFE teacher heads to London Olympics

GOTAFE Hospitality and Tourism Trainer, Claire Taylor has been selected to travel to London for the 2012 London Olympics where she will have the enormous task of running a restaurant as a Prestige Stadium Manager for Sodexo, a large international hospitality company.

Claire is one of three managers responsible for the service of food in one of only six restaurants located at the Olympic Stadium. The restaurants can seat up to 500 customers, and Claire said that equates a lot of meals.

“If you do the math, we will serving in excess of 5000 meals a day, especially during lunch and dinner with a number of courses being served,” said Claire.

“It will be a really big challenge but I have worked for large scale event companies, international hotels and on luxury super yachts in the past, so I am used to working within large scale hospitality venues.

“A number of my students have expressed an interest in careers that would lead them into similar events, so I am really looking forward to sharing my experience with the students via Skype, blogs and video link ups.

“I have set up a blog page called ‘The Event Life’ which will assist in illustrating how a large scale event such as the Olympics is run and I also intend on running some lessons whilst I am over in London via Skype and Adobe Connect.

“It will also be a great learning experience for the students who commence with GOTAFE mid-year, it will open their eyes to the career possibilities that a course in hospitality, events and tourism can take them.

“The Olympics is obviously an extremely important event to get right, so the stadium hospitality organisers will arrange  a trial run for three days leading up to the event, it will mirror everything we will do when the Olympics start including borrowing 2000 people to replicate a typical days service.”

Claire will be responsible for between 20 and 30 staff during each service and hopes to learn cutting edge hospitality practices including innovations in event management, an understanding of the local and imported food and wine and also staff management that she can share with the GOTAFE hospitality students she teaches.

The stadiums provide corporate catering for people who have purchased a ticket package that includes a lunch, breakfast or dinner. The facility hosts clients who will be attending the rowing, swimming, cycling and athletics events, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.

Claire departs for London on July 2 and will officially start on July 23 with the Olympics opening on Friday, July 27.

Mid-year intake for hospitality, tourism and events are now being taken, please contact Customer Service Centre on 1300 GOTAFE (1300 468 233)

Article Published 20 Jun 2012