GREAT BAY (DCOMM)"---- As part of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB) Caribbean Tourism Day/Month awareness campaign, Renata de Weever, is one of the nation’s young female tourism professionals working in the industry.
In September 2014, Renata de Weever joined NIPA (National Institute professional Advancement) as a Culinary Instructor, and this is her current full time position.
De Weever as a young female professional in the tourism field, on a part time basis fulfil duties of Executive Sous chef at Sonesta Great Bay Resort.
In 2011 Renata de Weever started working at the aforementioned resort as a Sous Chef, and worked her way up to becoming an Executive Sous Chef. Internationally De Weever had the opportunity to work with Mandarin Oriental Miami as a management trainee, where she was given the opportunity to learn different cuisine and cater for a wide variety of events.
“My passion for the hospitality industry started out at a very tender age, after completing my studies at Sundial school. I decided to continue my education in the hospitality industry and this eventually led me to fulfilling my dream of becoming a chef.
“Upon completing my studies at Johnson and Wales, Miami, I thought about what opportunities exist for me to make a positive contribution to my country’s hospitality/tourism product.
“As we all know tourism plays an integral role in the development of our country’s economy and I wanted to ensure that whatever I did had a positive impact on delivering the highest level of products and services out of St. Maarten.
“In my current role as a Culinary Instructor, I have the unique opportunity to imprint upon my students some of the skills and techniques I have acquired over the years. There is nothing more fulfilling than to see my students sharing my passion and executing brilliantly in their aspiring roles to become a chef.
“Whenever there is an opportunity to volunteer and get some hands-on training at various events, I always take pride in my students work, and share all the positive feedback received from the clients with them.
“In my role as Executive Chef, bringing that international experience and flavor to our locals is quite rewarding, and meeting and exceeding the expectations of our visitors also brings a lot of satisfaction to me.
“It is gratifying when our visitors can enjoy the same quality of food they receive globally, but what is most gratifying, I know that I am training students who will continue to deliver this quality of cuisine,” Renata de Weever pointed out.
“As stated earlier, Tourism is the ‘bread and butter’ of our economy, and there are many faucets to this industry as it relates to career opportunities. It is our responsibility to take a more sustainable approach to tourism and focus on providing our students with the knowledge and outlets to develop and utilize their skills.
“My advice to anyone wanting to be a part of this industry is to help them realize, that not everyone might have what it takes to become a Chef, but you can certainly consider being a General Manager, a Director of Housekeeping, a Hotel Engineer, a Bartender, Front Desk agent and list goes on.
“Whatever your passion is, strongly consider obtaining some type of formal training, as this would often give you the tools and basic knowledge needed to be successful.
“It is a very demanding industry and it sometimes calls for long hours and dealing with difficult customers, but there are a lot of aspects to this industry that brings satisfaction and enjoyment in whatever role you play,” Renata de Weever concluded in her advice to young people seeking a career in the country’s tourism and hospitality industry.
This profile is one out of eight as part of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Caribbean Tourism Month awareness campaign.
