Over the years, TAHSA has grown in yearly membership and gained a lot of interest among students, particularly as the work that it does has proved to be beneficial to student development and the provision of excellent life skills.

Some of the major events TAHSA has helped to organize are:

First Year Orientation Programme – This is an induction programme scheduled towards the start of the academic year to welcome students to STHM. A brief presentation is given by the Head of School and the staff then introduce themselves. The programme finishes with an informal get together so that students can get to know each other better and the STHM staff also.

Market Day – This is a three day event that enables students to develop basic food preparation skills like sanitation and hygiene, the importance of food handling, and customer orientation. The TAHSA committee, together with the TS109 (Food Service and Cost Control) class, organize the sale of fast food as a fundraiser for TAHSA.

The Annual Bilibili Races in Sigatoka – TAHSA’s main aim is to participate in this event. This experience emphasizes to the tourism students the importance of teamwork. The Bilibili Races is a great networking and teamwork experience for the students, where they represent USP and compete with Fiji’s elite hotel workers in the largest hospitality sporting event on the Coral Coast.

The Annual TAHSA Raffle – This is a major fundraising event for TAHSA, where most of the proceeds are used to fund other major events for the year, including the Annual Careers Fair.

USP Open Day – This is organized by STHM and assisted by TAHSA, operating similar to a tradeshow, where STHM’s programmes and other activities are promoted to those pupils still in the school education system – who may wish to study a degree in the future, particularly in the field of tourism, hospitality and hotel management. TAHSA presents to those concerned, discussing the role of the School and the courses, as well as dealing with specific questions.

Voluntary and Community Service Programmes

a. TAHSA has been involved in a ‘clean-up campaign’ in such locations as the Suva foreshore – this is an excellent team building exercise where students appreciate the importance of taking care of their environment.

b. Donation and visitation to Hilton Special School – together with STHM, TAHSA has made numerous donations to various schools in need of simple stationary requirements and other materials to enhance their teaching methods. Last year STHM made an additional visit to Hilton with Christmas presents to all the students at the School. The overall essence of these community programmes is to enhance social values and ensure responsibility to others.