Fill the skills gap

Hospitality education programmes should be aligned with the changes in the industry

Over the years, India has emerged as one of the top destinations in the world and this has pushed the hospitality industry to keep its offerings on a par with global standards. The resultant need for skilled personnel has led to the emergence of training and development programmes. More so after the pandemic, which widened the existing skill divide due to robust digitalisation, automation, and technological advancements. Hence, to compete globally, the industry needs new business models and support from hospitality institutes to bring about advancements in pedagogical approaches and curriculum design to match industry requirements.

New working styles are giving way to newer opportunities. The industry is expected to undergo a transformation ranging from vacation to staycation, workation, to revenge travel, all of which promote domestic industry and local communities. To make the most of the current revival, organisations are focusing on digital-first customer services and contactless operations. To make the students future-ready, digital skills and capabilities should be enhanced, and everyone needs to master new tools.

With technology — voice search, chatbots, digital payments, robots, VR, and mobile-enabled check-ins and check-outs — being the future of hospitality, graduates have to learn to balance this with human interaction. They will also require the skills to help guests engage with digital tools without being intimidated by advanced applications such as new social media platforms, geo-targeting, virtual and augmented reality devices. Hence hospitality education courses need to equip students to understand how these advances can enhance customer experience. The inclusion of digitisation in the relevant courses will also offer students a personalised learning experience and make it more accessible, engaging and closer to reality.

The pandemic has also taught businesses the value of soft skills such as kindness, empathy, resilience, and ethical behaviour. These are key determinants of success in any business and more so in the hospitality industry, which is a ‘people’ business. Professionals need to possess customer service, networking, communication skills, empathy and cultural awareness. This is in addition to hard skills like accounting, financial analysis and marketing.

To bring both the real and virtual world together, have introduced special Artificial Intelligence courses have been brought into hospitality management. Several institutions have created dedicated courses concerning Hospitality Strategy and Digital Transformation and are also promoting innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset by mentoring and guiding start-up incubators. Virtual Reality (VR) has also proven itself as an impressive learning tool that can make teaching fun and engaging. Instead of teaching students the history of service or hotels from a textbook, education institutions can just put on the VR headset and experience it for themselves. Remote training will also help in quick decision-making, reduce travel costs and improve the meeting experience.

The professional scope for future hospitality graduates is no longer limited to working in hotels. They can explore more fields such as travel and tourism, F&B services, banking and finance, beauty and wellness, consulting, private equity, automobile industry, aviation, luxury, retail, restaurants, and entrepreneurship.

The writer is the Director of Marketing and Enrolment at Sommet Education.