Two students win special mention at the 7th edition of the Hotusa Talent Match
Students Natalia Díaz and Andrea Castaño received a special mention from the jury for their innovative proposal of incorporating a virtual assistant at hotel reception desks. Five students from the bachelor's degree in Tourism also participated in the finals, in which 50 students from nine university centres were competing for the first prize.
08/05/2023
The finals of the 8th edition of the Hotusa Talent Match, an inter-university competition organised by the Grup Hotusa, were held this past weekend at the Eurostars Madrid Congress.
Over 150 tourism and hotel management students from all across Spain met to present their business idea, which they spent all year preparing. Some 50 students from 9 university centres classified for the finals, including 8 students from the UAB Tourism and Hotel Management programmes.
Students Natalia Díaz and Andrea Castaño, from the bachelor's degree in Hotel Management, received a special mention for their Filtrip project. The idea, which also included the involvement of student Alejandra Criado, consists in the development of a virtual assistant that uses the information and details of each client to create personalised plans and proposals.
The students presented their proposal to a jury formed by representatives of different areas of Hotusa, who evaluated the degree of innovation, viability and presentation of each of the proposals .
Participating in this year's finals were also Meritxell Maldonado, Lídia Peña Mora, Patricia Delgado, Salma Corrette Gutiérrez and Alicia Moreno who proposed creating an application to help connect hotel guests who are travelling alone during their stay.
The projects were developed under the framework of the Enterpreneurship & Innovation subject taught by lecturers Tatiana López Orozco and Sebastián Aparicio, alongside internship lecturers Gemma Sagué and Maria José Aguar.
This year's winning project was presented by two students from CESUGA, with a proposal related to glamping. In 2022, the winners were Bàrbara Tobella and Laura Retamar from the UAB bachelor's degree in Hotel Management.
Training and work opportunities
During the Hotusa Talent Match finals, participants were offered training in effective communication, sales and personal brand, and then applied these skills with practical sessions offered by a multidisciplinary team belonging to the hotel group.
Additionally, all candidates receive support throughout the process of preparing the project, and depending on the skills and capacities, are later invited by the company to develop a training plan.
Participants at the Hotusa Talent Match 2023 finals held in Madrid.
