Lead Story

Manpower shortage force hoteliers to turn educators

Neeti Mehra - Mumbai

Lack of trained and quality manpower is creating an alarming staff shortage in the hospitality industry, compelling hotel majors Bharat Hotels, The Park Hotels, Empee Group, The Chancery Group, Himalyan Ski Village, Kamat Hotels and Sarovar Hotels in setting-up hospitality management institutes to meet internal staffing requirements. Traditionally, institutes were the mainstay of the National Council for Hotel Management with IHMs and Food Craft institutes, under the aegis of the AICTE, with leading hotel brands The Taj, the Oberois and ITC being the only players in this area, apart from privately run institutes.

Revealing a grave picture, Lalit Suri, CMD, Bharat Hotels says, "Setting-up an institute makes perfect sense because it creates a captive pool of trained manpower who understand our brand philosophy and service style." The Group is on a fast growth track with a luxury property in Jaipur and is scouting for land in Kolkata to build the institute next to the recently acquired Grand Eastern.

While the industry is expecting an upsurge in demand, and World Travel and Tourism Council pegs industry growth at 8.8 per cent per annum in real terms, between 2004 and 2014, generating revenues of US $ 90.4 bn by 2014.

Reiterating the same, Priya Paul, chairperson, Park Hotels, says, " Students today are looking at an opportunity to be associated with brands, and with these institutes they will be absorbed within the Park Group, and will have an opportunity to work with other groups also." Park is eyeing their Navi-Mumbai property, touted to be a site for their soon-to-be-launched four star brand to set-up the hospitality institute.

A report commissioned by the department of tourism, Government of India, revealed that the annual demand for trained manpower in hotels and restaurants is likely to touch 29,000 by the year 2010; this is likely to increase to approximately 39,000 by the year 2020. A total of approximately 18000 students are being trained in hotel management and food craft annually. The report further points out that almost 14000 students graduate with a degree or a 3 years diploma in hotel management, but only 20% of them are obtaining training in hotel management from Government promoted institutes.

Param Kannampilly, director, Kamat Hotels emphasises that an institute ensures that a brand is not short-changed due to lack of availability of well-trained manpower, caused by a short turnout. "Consistency in quality and customised modules, and teaching styles are key attributes, " he says.

Hotel-run-institutes will also tackle the escalating attrition rates, growing at 10 per cent per annum, on a base of 18-25 per cent, in metro hotels. By 2010 there will be a total of 2.9 million hotel rooms, and star category hotels will have almost 100,000 hotel rooms, with the balance in the unorganised sector. In the year 2020, there will be approximately 6.6 million hotel rooms, a figure, which will hugely dent resources owing to the shortage of manpower.

John Sims, MD of Himalyan Ski Village, says, "We need around 4000 trained professionals and for that purpose we are starting our own institute." The company also plans to recruit school and college students for its project. "We will groom them and instill qualities required to be a hospitality professional," he adds. It plans to acquire a hotel in Manali, which will be converted in an institute by November this year.

With inputs from Praveen K. Singh, New Delhi