Fernando Guadalupe, a student at the Santa Brígida Hotel School in Gran Canaria, managed to be among the six finalists of the 5th National Cooking School Contest ‘Protur Chef 2023’. As for David Hernández, a student at Hoteles Escuela de Canarias (Hecansa), a center attached to the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, he became the winner of the 5th National Cooking School Contest ‘Protur Chef 2023’, in which four other students from the public company also qualified. The event took place in Sa Coma, Mallorca, from March 16 to 19, and brought together a total of eighteen contestants from hotel schools from across the country.
The six finalists, among whom there were two students from Hoteles Escuela de Canarias, had to overcome two semi-finals, held on Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18th, before competing for the victory. The grand final took place on Sunday, the 19th, starting at 9:30 a.m., and was followed by a series of gastronomic workshops, sensory tastings, culinary demonstrations and the grand final of Protur Chef Kids.
David Hernández, as the first classified, was awarded 3,000 euros, while the second and third received 1,500 euros and 1,000 euros, respectively. In addition, the top three winners were offered a paid internship contract in one of the hotels of the Protur Hotels hotel chain, including accommodation. In turn, the participants classified in fourth, fifth and sixth place can take advantage of a free one-week stay for two people on a half-board basis.
In turn, the students Fátima Aguilar, Gara Morales and Sara de Vera, from the Santa Cruz Hotel School, in Tenerife, managed to reach the semi-finals.
Participation in this type of experience is an important part of the training given at Hoteles Escuela de Canarias. The offer of training programs available at Hecansa, consisting of Food and Beverage Management (in person and online), Hotel Management, Kitchen and Gastronomy Management, seeks to opt not only for professional learning, but also to give students the opportunity to obtain recognition through their qualities and skills.
