Sustained demand for hospitality professionals

The demand for trained hotel and hospitality management personnel is unabated, offering youth attractive career opportunities, sizeable pay packages and conducive conditions Although the worldwide leisure tourism industry has taken a hit because of the prolonged global recession, business travel and medical tourism to India continue to rise. And the hotels and hospitality industry which offers a mere 1.14 million 1-5 star hotel rooms against the annual inflow of 6 million foreign visitors, is experiencing steady growth. Consequently the demand for trained hotel management personnel is unabated, offering youth attractive career options, sizeable pay packages, conducive working conditions and growth opportunities. Currently the aggregate employment in the organised sector hotels, catering and allied industries in India is 2.40 million and rising. The minimum eligibility for admission into undergrad diploma and degree programmes in hotel management is a 50 percent average in the Plus Two school-leaving exam. However, the majority of private colleges which offer diploma certificate programmes are content with Plus Two pass certification. Among the top hotel management schools are the 21 government-sponsored Indian Hotel Management Institutes (IHMs) sited in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Shillong, Hajipur, Lucknow, Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Goa, Gurdaspur, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Shimla, Srinagar and Thiruvananthapuram, promoted by the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT), New Delhi, under the aegis of the Union government’s department of tourism. Admission into the bachelor of science programme in hospitality and hotel administration at these institutes is through a joint entrance examination held in May every year. To be eligible to write the JEE, candidates should have passed Plus Two in any stream with English. Private colleges conduct their own entrance tests. Moreover, India’s top private hotel chains — Oberoi, Taj and Welcomgroup — have also promoted schools of hotel and hospitality management which offer excellent curriculums supplemented with high-quality training establishments — the Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development, New Delhi; Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad (Taj Group); and the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal. For trained and certified hotel management graduates, there are opportunities galore not only in hotels but in other hospitality industries such as commercial airlines, leisure cruise companies, railways, hospitals, hostels, industrial canteens etc. Remuneration packages in this specialised sector tend to be generous. Graduates of top-ranked colleges and institutes are normatively signed up at Rs.20,000-plus per month. Graduates of other institutes start off at Rs.8,000-10,000.  But career progression is fast. Within two years, you are likely to be promoted to the position of assistant manager at Rs.30,000-35,000 per month. A decade of hospitality experience is sufficient to become head of department (front office, F & B and housekeeping etc) at Rs.75,000-100,000 per month in reputed hotel chains. The next step in the hierarchy are positions of resident manager and vice president at which levels the pay and perks are fabulous.  Parvez Shaikh is the F & B (food & beverages) manager of Mumbai’s 5-star Hotel Marine Plaza, sited on Marine Drive overlooking the Arabian Sea,…