BW HOTELIER navigates the changes in the sea of hospitality education because of the soaring pandemic

The hospitality Industry operates in a competitive environment because of its dynamic nature and the continuous and swiftly changing consumer trends and preferences. For this reason, it becomes essential for hospitality programmes to be able to adapt to these shifts and respond to them with educational content and programmes, that offer a heuristic approach to the young graduates so that they possess the desired skillsets for the job market they enter.

According to a Ministry of Tourism (MoT) report, there are approximately 753 institutes imparting degrees, diplomas, certificates, etc., in Hotel Management, Hospitality, and Tourism studies. There are 70 Central, State, and Private managed Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) colleges in India.

BW HOTELIER got in touch with principals, deans, and directors of various prominent educational institutes and took a deep dive into their curriculum, teaching methodologies, the future of young professionals with regard to their employment opportunities, imparting skilled training and the need for improvement in the hospitality education infrastructure.

CONCRETE CURRICULUM 

Normally, there is a considerable gap between what is learned in the classroom and the actual work in the hospitality industry. According to the report mentioned earlier, the most common reasons for the perceived skill gap are ‘lack of communication,’ ‘practical application’ and ‘outdated syllabus.’ This is where the importance of a well-rounded curriculum comes in. The curriculum should include theory and industry-based training and consider the industry’s expectations of hospitality graduates’ skills and the actual skills held by them.

Speaking about their curriculum, Sarosh Daruwalla, Country Head, India, Les Roches Global Hospitality Education, Switzerland said that Les Roches’ curriculum served up academic rigour with a twist of innovation and entrepreneurship. He elaborated, “Our campuses are uniquely compact and caring environments, while our commitment to Swiss-style, hands-on learning and small class sizes means students make the most of every minute of their study time. The curriculum is designed keeping the current as well as the future demands of the industry in mind which means when students graduate, they’ll be in demand.”

Coming to our Indian institutes, Kamal Kant Pant, Principal and Secretary, IHM Pusa, New Delhi, said that the curriculum being followed at IHM, Pusa, and numerous other IHMs under the National Council of Hotel Management umbrella has a legacy of over six decades with consistent upgrades and refinements done every two to three years to maintain the relevance and concurrency of the curriculum. 

He continued, “The curriculum focus is that the students learn the basic hospitality, IT and interpersonal skills for the first three semesters before going to the industry for mandatory semester-long industrial attachment to hone the skills learned in the campus. The student comes back to the institute to learn the intellectual skills and managerial concepts on the foundation of the exposure of organization behaviour gathered in the industrial attachment.”

“The NCHMCT curriculum is beautifully complemented by the conceptual and managerial courses of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to give the bird’s eye view of the hospitality business operations from a manager’s perspective. It is basically in line with the curricula being followed at the leading hospitality management schools affiliated to universities like Cornell, the HAGUE, Lausanne, etc., with a slight tilt in their curricula towards the business management model in comparison to ours, which they complete in four years against the three years that we take in India to complete our curriculum through our duel certification model,” he added.

He further elaborated that their model is necessary for preparing the students to lead the hospitality industry in India, which emphasizes the personalized service aspect and has even garnered global recognition for that. The curriculum of IHM Pusa has made its alumni rise to the positions of the global CEOs of European and American hotel brands besides the Indian ones.

Amreesh Misra, I/C Registrar, Professor & Head - School of Hospitality Management, Auro University further stated that they have ensured that their curriculum and course content is reviewed and updated regularly to keep up with industry standards and are at par with international universities’ syllabus.

Vaskar Sengupta, Dean, School of Tourism & Hospitality, Sanskriti University, informed that their course curriculum involved active knowledge and skill development in hospitality. They ensure that the curriculum and many other processes strongly influence enrollment and retention. In his opinion, any changes or innovations, particularly to curriculum and approaches to learning, need to start with the faculty. He said, “We select 3 to 4 International universities of repute which is our benchmark, and map the courses. Once reviewed, we deliberate and finalize with the syllabus committee. The demands of research, accreditation, and service often leave very little space for faculty members and administrators to develop new courses, update curriculum, and take part in professional development.”

Kamal Kumar, Director, Lakshya Bhartee Institute of International Hotel Management (LBIIHM) asserted, “Our curriculum ensures comprehensive training and equips students with all the required skills and knowledge required by a hospitality professional. The programmes involve lab practicals to ensure thorough knowledge in the operational areas of Food & Beverage Service, Front Office operations, Food Production, and Housekeeping. Apart from good quality theory, practical and on-the-job industrial training, the Institute also emphasizes the overall personality development and personal grooming of the students in an ethical business environment to make them better corporate citizens.”

FACULTY TRAINING 

The quality of the teaching faculty determines the quality of education. Hence, it becomes essential for educational institutions to make sure that their faculty is up to date with theoretical knowledge and industry practices that ensure the desired learning outcomes in the classrooms and make students’ industry-ready.’

On being asked if the colleges imparted any specialised workshops/seminars for faculty training, the answers were in the affirmative. For instance, IHM Pusa allocates a sizable amount of budget to this aspect. There are various workshops organised for upgrading the knowledge & skill of the faculty on a regular basis like the Japanese Cuisine Workshop by the Chef Ambassador of Japan, Korean food Workshops by Korean Food Promotion Institute, Art of Plating & Food Photography by Saba Gaziani for the chefs as well as various wine workshops and onsite visits by leading Vineyards & wine manufacturers of the country for the service faculty just to name a few.

TIE-UPS WITH INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTES

Tie-ups with international institutions create ample opportunities for both the institution in terms of curriculum development, resource sharing (including faculty), and vital access to the best practices of the global organisations. These tie-ups also provide the students an opportunity to immerse themselves in a cultural hot spot to improve their exposure and growth in the global competitive environment.

IHM, Pusa has had a relationship with the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne through which the facilities of the institute were audited by the team from Lausanne. There were comprehensive faculty development programs undertaken by them, including a visit to their campus in Switzerland.

Likewise, an arrangement is currently on with Cornell University to provide different faculty and executive development programs to the faculty of IHM, Pusa through the online mode. In association with the ALMA, from Parma, in Italy and the Korean Food Promotion Institute, Seoul, the institute will facilitate culture and cuisine exchange.

“At the same time, there are many institutions in Central and Latin America, who are keen to join hands with IHM, Pusa in the areas of Indian and Asian cuisines. The students at IHM, Pusa, are exposed to numerous events of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. The consultancy cell of the institute involves the students in various facility designing projects entrusted to IHM, Pusa. Moreover, the running of cuisine studio, researching the cuisine and curating them is also entrusted to the students of IHM, Pusa,” Pant said. 

AURO university has collaborated with renowned Institutions such as International Hotel Management and Gastronomy School, Spain, I.M.I. International Management Institute, Switzerland and L.Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at San Diego State University, U.S.A.

The university shares the knowledge with the students. It encourages them to share their experiences when they come across revolutionary ideas or practices during their travels, training, and internships.

Moreover, renowned hoteliers and industry experts are invited regularly to share their experiences with our students and faculty. “Even during the pandemic when everything went online, we had several knowledge sharing sessions to keep ourselves and students updated and engaged with the latest happenings. Students are encouraged to participate in competitions and workshops to gain experience,” said Misra.

Sanskriti University has tie-ups with International Institutes such as the University of Cambridge, HELP University, Malaysia, Universidad Abierta Interamericana, Argentina, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, and the National Institute of Management and Technology, Australia. One of the clauses incorporated in each MOU is the ‘student exchange programme.’ 

LBIIHM is affiliated with the Educational Institute of American Hotel & Lodging Association, USA. InterNapa College (INC), Cyprus, and LBIIHM, India, are collaborating to offer students the opportunity to continue their studies at INC. LBIIHM also has tied up with the London School of Business Management (LSBM) for eight months paid internship in the UK, to provide the best hospitality industry exposure through international internship training.

JOURNEY TO THE TOP

A vital aspect obstructing the journey of Indian hospitality institutes to the top, generally highlighted by the industry, is the unavailability of a trained workforce. Moreover, the journey of the Indian Hospitality educational institutes in terms of getting into the top 100 of QS World University rankings is a long one. 

How do we achieve that? According to Sengupta, there is a need to standardise the quality of hospitality education. Furthermore, he believes that the personalisation of learning will be the future of the education system. Every individual has his/her own pace of studying. While some may need more time, others may need more material to achieve the same outcome. Artificial Intelligence combined with machine learning coupled with robust data analytics can help achieve that. The learning outcome should be equitable, convenient, lifelong, and accessible.

“Need of the hour is Specialised Hospitality Institutes where R & D can be done for Regional cuisines,” said Kumar. “It is high time, India should have specialised Hospitality Universities to tap the potential in Hospitality and Tourism sector through research-oriented interventions. When Indian cuisines are getting popular abroad, we should develop a scientific curriculum on Indian cuisines so that they can be taught abroad,” he added.

According to Pant, Hospitality Education in the country is fragmented at the university, NCHMCT, and foreign affiliation institution-level without a level playing field. Each player in this scenario is busy bragging about the merit of their model. In the absence of a single accrediting agency, there is no single yardstick for measuring their efficacy. Some institutions from the private sector equity are pricing their programmes exorbitantly to try to position themselves above the rest. But the opening in the industry has proven to be a great equaliser, with a big chunk of the placement pie ending up in the fold of the government-sponsored institutions, which provide the greatest value proposition to the students.

Pant concluded, “With the government institutions attaining the Institute of National Importance (INI) status, there has to be a comprehensive framework for hospitality education in the country. Every hospitality educator must either get affiliated to this body or get accredited to this body in order to position and rank such institutions in a system which is understood by the industry, academia, and students including their guardians and parents alike.”

With the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic looming over the country and the expectant third wave on its way, the real question remains: When will the Indian Hospitality Education bridge the gap?