What do you think comprises the hospitality sector? It's not just restaurants and hotels or travel, tourism, casinos, theme parks, entertainment and amusement, civic events, public parks, real estate. It’s more than that.
Glion Institute of Higher Education and Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, Switzerland are two schools that are rated among the best in management across the globe.
Vice President, Michael Huckaby of Laureate International Education, in a brief interaction in the City recently, shared his views about the courses offered by the two universities and the boom in the hospitality sector in India. Ganesh Kohli, the Educational Consultant of India talked from the Indian perspective.
It is interesting to note that a student of Les Roches, who owns a popular restaurant in Mumbai, shared his experiences of his learning at the University. “Etiquette, soft skills as in employable skills, teamwork are just some of the tips he picked up during his training at the University. It was a life changing experience. Small things like greeting a customer is very important. All of this came in handy when I started the restaurant.”
Huckaby confessed that it had been seven years since his last visit to India and his first visit to the City.
What were Michael's first impressions of Bangalore? And indeed, he had lots to say about namma Bengaluru. He considers it to be a fast-paced City, something that he had heard about. He believes that the International Airport at Devanahalli will contribute to the booming hospitality sector in Bangalore.
Comparing Bangalore to the United States of America in the 1960's, he sees this as a place of opportunity and recognises signs of development. The hospitality sector boasts of 41 million jobs wherein one in ten jobs is related to the hospitality sector.
Having the upper hand in the IT sector adulates Bangalore further. Michael and his team were one in believing that the number of jobs in the hospitality sector will exceed those of the IT sector as early as in the next two years. Complimenting India's diverse culture and its weather he considers the Indian people to be hospitable by nature.
“Maybe they are born with a silver spoon in their mouth…!” he gushes.
