Trend Story

Homeward bound

As the hospitality industry continues to burgeon, and along with it, the demand for skilled manpower, it is being seen that more Indian students with foreign degrees in hospitality management are heading back to their home country. By Andrea Lopez

This may come as good news to the hospitality industry, at a time when it is grappling with manpower issues. It may not be a noticeable trend, but it is a trend all the same - in the past three years, more Indian students pursuing careers in the hospitality sector in foreign institutes are returning to India. This is quite contrary to the scenario about ten years ago, where students flocked to institutes overseas and subsequently stayed back to pursue careers in their respective fields of interest. "A recent trend that we notice is that Indian students who typically continue to work abroad after graduation are interested in moving back to India at some point," says Michael Huckaby, vice president - global communications, for Laureate Hospitality, that includes under its umbrella accredited universities like Glion Institute of Higher Education and Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in Switzerland. Both institutes specialise in the fields of hotel management, event, sport and entertainment and food and beverage management.

Huckaby estimates that globally, there are some 240 million positions in the hospitality industry, with Rs 160 trillion being generated in revenues. One out of every ten jobs created, is in this industry and it contributes to nearly seven per cent of the GDP in some countries. "It presents young Indians with exciting career opportunities. Even the Government of India has recognised the potential of this sector and has declared the hospitality industry as a high priority sector with a provision for 100 per cent FDI," says Huckaby. Unfortunately, the sector has been in the throes of a manpower crunch in recent years.

Oddly, Indian students seem to have realised that the prospects of returning to India are now quite bright, what with more hotels looking for managerial and other staff. Huckaby opines that the coming years will see Indians managing hotels in India, a shift from the present scenario. "The change in the Indian mindset is relatively new and will be monitored over the next two years," he says. "The majority of our Indian students believe that they will return to India at some point in time to take advantage of the exciting hospitality management opportunity."

Drivers of change

To understand the reasons behind the drivers of this change, it becomes necessary to go into the causes for the boom in the hospitality industry. Huckaby attributes that the current growth in the hospitality industry has been driven by three main factors: 1) the middle class is growing and Indians are becoming more mobile within and outside the country 2) India has become the IT centre of Asia bringing in more investment and 3) The Indian ministry of tourism has been proactive in launching a successful global advertising campaign, 'Incredible India'.

"Some of the drivers for this migration back to India are driven by increased compensation in the industry, faster career tracks and entrepreneurial opportunities. We also find that our non-Indian student population is becoming more interested in having some form of work experience in India," he says. In the last five years itself, over 150 Indian students were part of the international management education courses at Les Roches and Glion. The USP of both institutes is the diversity of its student population; they are drawn from among 83 nationalities. Ganesh Kohli, educational consultant - India, for Laureate Hospitality Education validates this claim, saying that Indians have realised that their home country is one of the places to be in right now and are comfortable with the idea of returning here. In India, as inbound tourism attains new levels, the quality of service expected too has been improving. "It is very clear that over the next 10 years and beyond, well educated hospitality managers with an international perspective and professional experiences will be in high demand," says Huckaby. "To ensure that India takes full advantage of this unique opportunity, the hospitality and tourism sectors will have to upgrade their management talent pool to effectively develop the infrastructure at an international level," he says, connecting this thought to the shortage of rooms in India, "Proper investment in infrastructure coupled with strong management throughout India will allow the supply of accommodation to meet expected demand."

An alternate view

Dominic Costabir, director, Hospitality Training Institute, however feels differently. "There are two factors related to this trend of students returning to India. We cannot deny that 'India Inc' is doing very well. Unfortunately, in the hospitality industry, the exodus to India cannot be attributed to more lucrative options available here. It may be true of IT and other industries, but in the case of the hospitality sector, it is more due to chance than choice that a lot of students are forced to come back," he says, adding that the hospitality industry in India still isn't paying that well to make students want to return home. Moreover, he says that a lot of the courses formulated abroad are being used to bring in cheap labour, since students are permitted to work for a fixed number of hours while studying. "On completing their period of study, some apply for work permits and if they are rejected, students have no option but to return to India for employment," he says. Senior management positions in hotels are still occupied by non-Indians, and Costabir feels that this trend will not change in a hurry. "So long as the room buying power still rests with an American, I don't see the trend changing. Yes, it will happen, some Indian managers and chefs do occupy senior positions, but only when the industry begins to pay better, will we see a solid trend of Indians heading back to India for employment."