The Indian hospitality sector is growing at approximately 8%. Considering the number of tourists visiting India is estimated to touch nearly 4.4 million, the country is fast becoming the hottest tourist destination in the region and the sector is growing phenomenally. This sector can be classified into the hotel industry, travel and tourism, restaurants, pubs, clubs and bars, contract catering, and aviation. However, the sector is saddled with a very high rate of attrition. According to a recent ASSOCHAM study the attrition rate in the hospitality industry is set to double to nearly 50 per cent by 2010, up from the earlier 25 per cent, thanks to rapid expansion. Retaining the workforce is also a challenge since the salaries are not very attractive.
The heartening news is ASSOCHAM has estimated that the Commonwealth Games 2010 alone will create job opportunities for nearly 50,000 skilled professionals, as about 70 hotels are likely to be commissioned in the next three years, assuming that each hotel will need about a 600-strong regular workforce.
The primary challenges of this sector are as follows:
Shortage of skilled manpower
High attrition rate
Lack of retention policies
24x7 Learning's Talent Lifecycle ManagementSM solution will help the industry meet the challenges. Through its end-to-end eLearning solutions 24x7 Learning can help reach out domain specific training programs on business etiquette, courtesy, business communication, listening skills and interpersonal skills to the hospitality sector. Since hospitality is all about handling people, even the managers need to be highly competent in people management, viable skills, business insights, analytic skills, succession planning, and resource development to be successful in their positions and move up the value chain.
24x7 Learning has the capability to build a corporate virtual university to address each of the training needs above. Hotels can effectively and cost efficiently reach out standardized eLearning programs to a large number of geographically dispersed employees and help them provide the best in class services across regions. 24x7 Learning's solutions will eventually help them chart out a prosperous future in the industry.
