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NCHMCT introduces short-term courses to tap retail boom

Neeti Mehra - Mumbai

With the organised retail sector touted as the next big bang in the Indian economy, The National Council for Hotel Management & Catering Technology (NCHMCT), in a move that will add to its revenues, is widening its education focus to include a short term course in retail management, as well as courses in event management and entrepreneurship. These courses will be introduced as separate modules in the curriculum by the next academic year.

Informing Express Hospitality about this development, N S Bhuie, director (studies), NCHMCT, says "The services industry is witnessing a boom, with retail and event management being in great demand. We are keen to tap this market and plan to introduce 3-6 month short-term courses, to attract industry professionals who want to upgrade their skills." Currently the NCHMCT is drawing up the final plan, and he further added that a year's lead-time is required to put a faculty in place, and assess demand on the basis of feedback. The NCHMCT will not be investing in separate infrastructure to conduct these courses, with the lessons slotted for the afternoon or evening within the IHM and FCI campuses.

The NCHMCT also hopes to lure hospitality professionals to these courses. Giving insight, he further adds, "Hospitality students and professionals will benefit by enrolling in these courses, especially if they are looking to branch out on their own, or work within hotels in these segments, as events and retail today are critical sub-sets of all hotel operations."

Ironically, hospitality professionals are poached by the same industries, given their high-skill set and training. According to consultancy firm Technopak, the retail industry in India will see US $20 billion of fresh investments (excluding investments in real estate), at least 6.5 million new direct and indirect jobs and 2,000 hyper markets in the next five years.