Four French students are getting ready to market Mauritian holidays. Thanks to an agreement between the Sir Gaetan Duval Hotel School and the St Quentin Hotel School in the Yvelines, such exchanges have become quite a regular feature. The idea for these students is to become familiar with the country to better sell the product as they finish their Brevet de Technicien Superieur (BTS).

After a two-week holiday during which they will visit the country with their Mauritian counterparts and follow some courses at the SGD Hotel School, they will start their internship with tour operators and travel agencies. ?This is one of our compulsory internships. Those of us who could afford the trip ? we worked during the holidays ? have been able to come and do it in Mauritius,? explains Elodie, one of the students. The students really wanted to take advantage of this partnership because of the ?standard of the destination and its hotel industry. We study this destination a lot in our courses,? she adds.

Such trainees have been coming to Mauritius for two years now for a period of five to seven weeks. But the agreement dates as far back as 1999. ?At that period, the exchange was done at teachers? level,? said GulshanTeeluck, who is the acting coordinator for Tourism at the hotel school. ?Since that time, teachers from St Quentin have come to Mauritius to help us develop our curriculum, organise and supervise exams. Local teachers regularly go there for advanced training that lasts about a month.?