The much anticipated 3-year journey to Dubai began in the year 2019, and finally came to fruition in March 2022 when 24 brave and adventurous students, accompanied by three staff-members, embarked on a five-day action-packed visit to Dubai. Aside from being the first international trip of its kind for the school, it was also the first visit to the UAE. Everyone in the group was excited to experience and witness what Dubai had to offer.

The futuristic cities and the real-life global village witnessed at the Dubai Expo, the fantastic dune-jumping adventure in the desert safari, the epic cityscapes and gold-plated landmarks sighted during the city tours, the awe-inspiring magnificently-large shopping malls with sophisticated clothing outlets, the very friendly (and highly punctual!) people and the Emirate cuisines, music, and dancing were not the only great experiences the team got to share during the trip.

The students also had the opportunity to explore more of what Dubai had to offer during their free days and the experience varied from visiting the gold souk and other market places, experiencing the Dubai Dancing Fountains, and the efficient and reliable transport systems through the metro automated trains; a far cry from our systems back home. Given that the students were from across different years, from 2^nd year to 4^th years, they also had the opportunity to form new friendships, to share experiences, and to challenge and encourage each other.

Being the first trip of this kind for the school and with the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe, the trip  As one of the world’s most strategic hubs for hospitality and tourism business and being only being 20 years old, Dubai challenged the team to always aim for the best, that anything is possible with discipline, diligence and hard work, to always keep learning and growing and that there is a world out there that we must keep exploring.

The STH team would like to thank all who made this trip a success: both the internal and external stakeholders. We are truly grateful and we look forward to more engagement.

Our gears are already turning as we begin to prepare for our next learning adventure – maybe Europe, or Asia… only time will tell. But for now, Dubai – we came, we saw and we will continue to conquer!

This article was written by Veronica Muniu.