Four Dublin City University final year students have been offered a place on the prestigious Bennett Hospitality Internship Programme in the United States. Emma Lockwood, Laura Breen, Mark Prunty and Eric Shekleton, flew out to Charleston, South Carolina on Friday 1st June to begin a summer internship with the Bennett Hospitality group.
The Bennett Hospitality internship programme is a collaborative initiative, initially devised by Mike Bennett, founder of Bennett Hospitality and Trustee of the DCU Educational Trust, in 2009. Mr Bennett, an entrepreneur who grew his business from a bicycle and moped rental company in 1977 to an organisation running sixteen hotels and eight restaurants today, created the programme to provide students with insights into the skills required to run a successful business.
Interns learn the ropes of the hotel industry by rotating through a variety of departments, including marketing and sales, finance and human resources. Participants also get to grips with the day-to-day essentials of running a hotel while working at the front desk and alongside the housekeeping and maintenance teams.
Speaking about the internship, Business Studies student Mark Prunty said:
“I am grateful to be chosen for the 2018 Bennett Internship and looking forward to the opportunity to develop myself both personally and professionally by working in a new environment and by learning the skills required to run a successful business.”
Also speaking about the internship, Laura Breen, a final year Marketing, Innovation and Technology student added:
“This internship is an amazing opportunity for me, I’ve never been to the United States and so I am delighted to have the opportunity to combine my love of work and travel through this summer internship.”
Previous interns have used the opportunity to go on to work in companies as diverse as Google, Allianz Insurance, Aramark and SQS Group.
