The students, accompanied by institute chairman Reginald Abela and their teachers, called on Mr Zammit at Air Malta’s head office at Luqa.

The Maltese students won a total of 15 medals (six gold, five silver and four bronze) and seven certificates of merit during Hotelympia, the UK’s largest food-service, hospitality and leisure industry event.

The exhibition, which this year took place at ExCeL in the heart of London’s Docklands, is highly regarded for its culinary competitions, industry fora and educational programmes. Almost 1,000 exhibitors took part and promoted their products and services to over 40,000 visitors during the week-long exhibition.

Mr Zammit praised the role of ITS and the service it offers to the hospitality industry. “ITS blends teaching with on-the-job training for students who, in turn, provide the local tourism industry with a highly professional and experienced workforce, “ said Mr Zammit.

He added that Air Malta’s assistance to ITS is in line with the organisation’s endeavours to provide a better service to tourists. Every year Air Malta assists ITS students to further enhance their experience in training abroad and bring back to Malta skills that add value to the local tourism product, said Mr. Zammit. Hotelympia provided an ideal platform where Maltese students could show their potential on the international scene. He wished the students and their teachers every success in all their future endeavours.

Mr Abela thanked Air Malta and Mr Zammit for their continuous support for ITS and the local tourism industry. He praised the students and teachers, congratulating them on their prestigious results. Through such cooperation agreements, he said, ITS is living up to its mission to provide vocational education aimed at offering the tourism industry with personnel trained to international standards.

More information about this event is available at http://www.hotelympia.com.