Bearing in mind the importance of life long learning and youth education, Danubius Hotels Group has applied for and won a European Union Erasmus+ Mobility tender in 2014, in the course of which winners of the Danubius Student competition of great tradition are provided a possibility for a two weeks study tour in Vienna for a period of two years in 2015 and 2016. Students of the Company are competing at the Danubius Student competition in cook, pastry cook and waiter categories, every year, allowing a total of 18 persons to take part in the study tour.  

The first tour was organised in 2015 the report about which you will find here>  

European Union Erasmus+ Mobility tour II. 2016

The second tour took place between 10-23.04.2016.  
Due to last minute changes occurring the year before – owing to which only 8 students were able to attend  –  this year 10 students were offered the possibility to try themselves in the Kaiserstadt.

Cooks:
Attila Sümeg, trainee at Danubius Hotel Arena, Tamás Orbán, trainee at Radisson BLU Béke and Balázs Hencz, trainee at Hotel Rába in Győr.

Pastry cooks:
Evelin Szaszkó, trainee at Radisson BLU Béke, Szandra Orosz, trainee at Hilton Budapest, Réka Baranyai, trainee at DHSR Sárvár and László Berényi, student of Danubius Vocational School and College in Sopron.

Waiters:
Zsófia Járay, trainee at Hotel Rába, Gábor Jókuti, student of Danubius Vocational School and College and Levente Tabi, trainee at Hotel Palatinus in Pécs.

The students had their training 5 days a week during the two week period in the Mercure Wien Westbahnhof, in the Hungarian operated Dobos Bistro, and in the patisseries Cupcakes, Naschsalon and Zuckero. The top ranking F&B units offered a lot to learn about the Austrian mentality, the structure of the units, special cooking techniques, the daring ones could even try their English or German language skills. 

In addition to the work done the program allowed the students some time for sightseeing as well, visiting the city of Vienna including the Hofburg Imperial Residence and the Opera, admiring the Schönbrunn castle and its beautiful park, trying some of the specialities offered at the Naschmarkt, and as weekend relaxation having fun time in the Práter theme park. The two weeks were closed with a visit to the Pulkautaler Wein & Bierhaus, a charming Viennese restaurant on the very last night.
They shared their experience in personal log books and public blogs, accessible in Hungarian at http://kingsofdanubius.cafeblog.hu

Having completed the study tour the students were given a Europass Mobility certificate that certifies their participation and work at the study program.
We congratulate each and every one of our students, who took part in the two year project, were brave enough to use the foreign language and thus earn special experience! We hope they will be able to put to use the knowledge gained abroad and feel enriched by the observations made.

European Union Erasmus+ Mobility tour I. 2015

The first tour was organised from 22 March 2015 - 4 April 2015, with the winners being:

Cooks:
Árpád Perlaki, student at the Sopron Danubius Hotels Vocational School and College, Martin Liebl, trainee of Restaurant Gundel and Ákos Bagdi,  trainee at Hilton Budapest.

Pastry cooks:
Cintia Gáspár, trainee at Radisson BLU Béke Hotel, Barbara Füzeséri, trainee at Hotel Hungaria City Center and Gabriella Bulejka, trainee at Restaurant Gundel.

Waiters:
Ferenc Németh, student at the Sopron Danubius Hotels Vocational School and College, Diána Istovics, trainee at Hotel Palatinus in Pécs and Norbert Husz, trainee at Danubius Hotel Helia.

The students were placed for training in the following hotels and restaurants during the study tour: Mercure Hotel Biedermeider, 4eck Restaurant, Sale e Pepe Restaurant and Camelot Restaurant. The students were able to get an insight of the different local tidbits of various professions at their training places, the cooks and waiters revealed among others the secrets of Austrian gastronomy, and the operation of local hotels and restaurants, while the pastry cooks were able to study a number of confectionaries and pay a visit to the Heindl chocolate factory– and museum.

During the common leisure time the students had a look at the famous attractions of Vienna, just to mention a few: the Opera, the Hofburg Imperial Residence, the Rathaus, the Prater, the Hundertwasser Haus, Mariahilfer Strasse, Naschmarkt and the neighbouring flea market as well as the Schönbrunn castle. Participants visited a genuine local Wiener Schnitzel restaurant, the Schnitzelwirt on the last evening of the study tour.

The students were to face not only the new situation and the challenges of an unknown country but also the foreign training place as well as the expectations of foreign people.  They shared their experience in personal log books and public blogs, accessible in Hungarian at http://danubiuschampions.cafeblog.hu
Having completed the study tour the students were given a Europass Mobility certificate that certifies their participation and work at the study program.

We congratulate each and every one of our students taking part in the exercise this year and we are looking forward to next years Danubius Student Competition and to find out who the winners will be!