December 23, 2015, 2:20p.m. – A THOMASIAN bagged first place in an international online competition on hotel and restaurant management held last Nov. 9 to 20.
Miguel Angelo Viray Eñano, a hotel and restaurant management senior, won in the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (ICHRIE) & Collegiate DECA Virtual Business Hotel Competition, an online contest where participants competed in a hotel simulation focused on profit and customer satisfaction.
Eñano, along with two other Thomasians, competed with hundreds of students from more than 50 universities worldwide.
The contest was a business simulation in which participants were able to adjust prices of rooms and services offered in a hotel. The simulation also allowed players to fix staff schedules and stocks to maximize profit without sacrificing customer satisfaction.
According to the contest’s homepage, the participants were judged and ranked based on a scorecard that highlighted profitability, customer and employee satisfaction and inventory levels.
Eñano said the competition’s nature as a video game and his experience working in a Makati hotel gave him an edge.
“I grew up playing video games and it somehow made it easier for me to compete. I had a good start in the competition,” he said in an interview with the Varsitarian. “[My experience in the hotel was] a huge advantage on my part because I am in an industry where practical experiences and skills are more important.”
The competition was funded by ICHRIE Future Fund and hosted by the Collegiate DECA, an organization at the Scottsdale Community College that aims to develop professional and leadership skills among young people.
Chunhao Wei of Florida International University and Daniel Fung of Ryerson University won second and third place, respectively.
The awarding ceremony will be held in Dallas, Texas next year, during the yearly ICHRIE summer conference on July 20 to 22, 2016 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. Maria Corazon A. Inay
