Creating Excellence in Hotel Reception: designing, organizing and delivering the WorldSkills Competition 

巴西专家Angélica Furtado

The WorldSkills Competition is often referred to as the “Olympics of Skills,” and I believe that is a perfect analogy. For most people, it's difficult to picture a competition that simulates professional practice – sports help make it more understandable. In WorldSkills, just like in the Olympics, we have young professionals who have stood out in their countries and are now there to represent them. Also, like the Olympics, they come from all corners of the globe, but here, they compete in environments that closely resemble real workplaces.

Among the many “modalities” in WorldSkills, Hotel Reception represents the hospitality industry. In addition to technical competencies and front office operational knowledge, the competition also evaluates behavioral and interpersonal skills. By sharing my experience as Chief Expert for WorldSkills Brazil (editions 2021, 2023, and 2025) and for the WorldSkills Competition itself (2022, 2024, and 2026), I hope to offer an inside look at how we design, organize, and execute this competition, one that blends technical excellence with professional behavior in every detail.

Today, much more is expected from a hotel receptionist than just technical knowledge. This professional must demonstrate emotional balance, empathy, critical thinking, multitasking ability, and a strong sense of professionalism. That’s why the assessment in WorldSkills goes far beyond traditional tasks such as check-ins or check-outs. To reflect the true demands of the hospitality industry, we must observe how competitors communicate with guests, solve problems, provide tourist information, and handle stressful situations. Sometimes, all these challenges happen simultaneously with the same guest –  just like in real life. At WorldSkills Lyon, the Skill Competition Manager, the person in charge of designing the test scenarios, summarized the competition week as “a week with high hotel occupancy and lots of guest demands” – a faithful reflection of real-life hotel work.

At the center of the competition is the Test Project –  a document that outlines all tasks and scenarios competitors will face. Creating this project is both a technical and creative process, led by the Skill Competition Manager in the international WorldSkills context. In the case of WorldSkills Brazil, I am responsible for this development. Guided by WorldSkills standards and improved with each edition, the Test Project comes together like a puzzle, piece by piece.

The first step is built upon an estimate of how many competitors we will have. Having accurate projections is essential for properly planning the required infrastructure and for creating the competition schedule, known as the Timetable. The Timetable is the document that maps how competitors rotate through different workstations throughout the competition days. In WorldSkills, some occupations allow multiple competitors to be evaluated simultaneously. In Hotel Reception, since most tasks require individual attention, we must ensure equal conditions for all – same duration, same scenarios. For this reason, receptionist-guest interactions follow a scripted structure that reflects the assessment criteria. 

So, everything starts with building a rotation schedule. This includes both competitor rotation and their movement through the different stations. To give an idea of how complex this puzzle can be, at WorldSkills Lyon 2024, for example, with 22 participants, competitors were divided into four groups of 5 to 6 people, each group assigned approximately two hours (assuming an 8-hour competition day). There were three Front Office-focused workstations and four Back Office ones, with each group rotating through all. The two-hour slots covered Back Office assessments, sometimes individual, sometimes in small groups, while Front office tests were conducted by one competitor at a time. These Front Office interactions lasted between 15 to 20 minutes per competitor, ensuring rhythm and diversity in assessment. In that time, each competitor could interact with one to four guests, either sequentially or simultaneously, depending on the station. The Timetable also accounts for transitions between workstations, evaluation logistics, and the well-being of both competitors and experts.

Once the rotation is set, we move to the second step: building the structure of the competition. We typically use visual tools, like a matrix, with competition days as columns and modules (such as Front Office or Back Office) as rows. In each cell, we insert the relevant elements of the WorldSkills Occupational Standards (WSOS) to be assessed. From there, we develop realistic scenarios: the check-out of a noisy and late group, a demanding VIP who needs discretion and attention, or a family looking for sightseeing suggestions. These sketches then evolve into scenario summaries, including descriptions and initial evaluation ideas. This phase requires a balance between creativity and technical accuracy to ensure each situation makes sense both for hospitality operations and for the educational purpose of the skill.

The third step involves writing the full version of the Test Project. This includes detailed character profiles, guest emails (used in back office tasks), realistic interactions, and elements that simulate distraction and emotional pressure. We also create scripts for actors and develop the marking criteria in parallel. Every aspect to be assessed must be tied to a specific and observable action. For instance, empathy is not measured as an abstract idea – it’s evaluated through concrete behavior: Did the competitor offer water to a visibly nervous guest? Did they recognize the guest’s frustration and attempt to de-escalate the situation? This approach ensures clarity in assessment, promotes fairness, and avoids subjective interpretations that could compromise the competition's integrity.

One of the key pillars of the WorldSkills methodology is this behavior-based evaluation. Rather than rewarding memorized responses or rehearsed phrases, we evaluate how the competitor behaves under challenging conditions. Skills such as emotional intelligence, prioritization, and adaptability are transformed into visible, practical actions. We might ask: Did the receptionist detect a security concern? Did they act with discretion while checking in a VIP? These kinds of evaluation criteria prevent the occupation from becoming too mechanical and ensure that high performance results from professional judgment, initiative, and human insight.

Finally, to bring everything to life, the competition environment must be carefully planned to resemble a real hotel reception area and to accommodate everything defined in the Test Project. The setup includes traditional desks, VIP zone, back office spaces, and stations equipped with computers, telephones, hotel property management system, and other resources. Actors portray guests with various personalities (friendly, irritated, demanding, or confused). Phones ring, emails come in, and unexpected situations arise. All of this is designed to test not only technical skills but also the competitor's ability to remain calm, courteous, and effective under pressure. Experts rotate between marking teams, logistics support, and module management. The goal is to deliver a consistent yet dynamic experience that accurately mirrors the reality of a professional hotel reception.

For educators, many of the WorldSkills principles can be adapted to daily teaching in hospitality programs. Active methodologies such as simulations, role-plays, and timed challenges can be integrated into the curriculum. Evaluating students based on what they do – not just what they say – can transform the way we train future professionals. The focus should be on both technical and behavioral development: active listening, empathy, body language, prioritization, emotional regulation, and clarity in communication. Reflection sessions after each activity and group discussions about how to handle different guest profiles are powerful tools for learning.

WorldSkills is far more than a competition. It is a global platform that helps shape the future of professions through excellence, innovation, and relevance. In the Hotel Reception Skill, we aim to create immersive, challenging, and fair experiences that match the demands of the modern hospitality industry. Through structured creativity, behavior-based evaluation, and realistic execution, we prepare competitors not only to win medals, but to excel in real professional contexts. Educators play a fundamental role in this process. By embracing WorldSkills principles in the classroom, we help elevate the standard of hospitality education in Brazil, in China, and around the world.