On Wednesday, 11 December, during the Day of Recreation at Circuit Zandvoort, the winners of the recreation elections were announced in a festive manner.
- Talents: Timo Loozen (Landal Hoog Vaals), Anna Westerling (Camping De Kleine Wolf) and Sanne Gruntjes (De Schatberg)
- Practical Trainer: Eefke Verkoelen (Vakantiepark De Leistert)
- Best Learning Company: Hof van Saksen
For the Talent Recreation category, the expert jury decided to declare all three nominees as Talent of the Year this year. Each talent has unique qualities and has made their own contribution to the recreation sector. The expert jury wants to emphasise for all categories that learning and Your career are always central. It’s not about who is the best, but about the growth you experience and the associated creativity and passion. Making mistakes is part of it, as it gives you the chance to grow and fully utilise your talent.
The talents and the practical trainer win a dinner voucher worth €150 and, of course, the prestigious title. The best learning company receives, in addition to the title, €500 for a company outing.
Kind words about the three talents from the expert jury:
“Anna is enthusiastic and an inspiration to her colleagues. She doesn’t shy away from challenges, is proactive and anticipates guests’ needs.
According to his colleagues, Timo is hospitable, stress-resistant, communicative, creative and a true multi-tasker with Insights of the entire park. He is always focused on innovation and improvement of work processes.
Sanne has quickly progressed from intern to first employee at Reception. She is eager to learn, listens to guests and her colleagues.”
The jury on the winning practical trainer:
“Eefke has been a practical trainer at De Leistert for five years. In the training plan, she pays attention to the onboarding of students. She encourages students to take on new challenges and looks at the students’ qualities: where can they develop themselves?”
The expert jury on the best learning company:
“Hof van Saksen is a broad training company with a developed culture and training programme (GAST). Additionally, they offer an innovative education concept: the school comes to the company to train students and employees. Various facilities are arranged to make participation in training and education accessible for employees and students, for example through their own Academy. They also offer internal Your career and career opportunities, and train for companies in the region. With no less than 35 practical trainers, they train 52 students!”
Expert Jury
The elections are judged by an expert jury, consisting of Johan Bijlsma (De Horecabond), Aafke Snip (S-BB), Herbert van Oord (HISWA-RECRON), Arno Goedhart (Summa College) and the winning learning company 2023/2024: Thermae 2000.
About the elections
De Horecabond organises the elections on behalf of the Stichting Sociaal Fonds Recreatie (SFRecreatie) in collaboration with social partners, namely HISWA-RECRON and CNV. With these elections, ambitious practical trainers, entrepreneurs and recreation employees from across the country can showcase their talent. This demonstrates that they are an example of good practical training in the sector and puts the company in the spotlight for (future) employees. One can qualify for the election by being nominated or by nominating oneself.
View the photos of the winners
Recreation Talents: Timo Loozen was unfortunately not present at the award ceremony, Anna Westerling (Camping De Kleine Wolf) and Sanne Gruntjes (De Schatberg)
Practical Trainer: Eefke Verkoelen (Vakantiepark De Leistert)
Best Learning Company Recreation: Hof van Saksen