| |  | Indian Hospitality Congress (IHC):
Tourism & Hotel Management education have become prime concern in the world as the number of travellers grows and markets become more sophisticated in most countries. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates a boost in the total amount of travel & tourism activity in the next decade. If India is to realize its enormous potential in tourism & hospitality sector it must provide world –class products matched with technically qualified workforce. The Government of India has been taking initiatives to promote and develop Hospitality & Tourism both in terms of physical infrastructure & services by paying attention on uplifting physical products as well as manpower. Due to diverse nature of Hospitality, it is not easy to precisely define the skills & competency requirements in hospitality management by government alone. Realizing these vary facts CMTHS conducted a research to study the impacts of Hospitality Industry Associations on quality education in India. We found that with increasing competition in hospitality/ tourism industry globally and the growing demands of efficient services the training & education has become a key area of researchers in hospitality. National bodies like FHRAI (Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India) in association with HVS International conducted Indian Hotel Industry Survey and a research on Status of Hospitality Education in India. Apex bodies like AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) / (UGC) University Grants Commission have been funding seminars/ symposiums/ conferences in the field of Hospitality. Within last five years various seminars like “Saga of Hospitality Education – Quality Education” (2003), Practices in Travel & Tourism Sector (2005), Seminar on Hospitality Education Issues & Challenges (2005) and other such conferences have been conducted from time to time so as to nurture the young talents as per growing demands. Various researchers in India have conducted research on issues pertaining to hospitality education in India. Papers titled “Role of Hospitality Education in providing competent manpower”, “Opportunities & Dilemma’s facing Graduate Hospitality Education in India.”, “Tourism & Hotel Management Education in India”, “Hospitality Education in India – a case study.” And other such related topics have been addressed in last five years. Majority of the above mentioned titles have mentioned in their findings that “Industry Institute Partnership” should be strengthened, the Hospitality Industry Associations can play a key role in Hospitality Education, Research needs to be strengthened in Hospitality & Tourism, Modular Programs can be offered, curriculum needs to be strengthened further, and skill up gradation programs needs to be offered. Thus the issues have been addressed in a significant way with a further scope of research. From above mentioned one issue comes is that the common interface between Industry & Institutes are the Hospitality Industry Associations. In the report published by World Bank (2007) it has been reviled that the demand of skilled courses like Multimedia, Hospitality & Hotel Management, Tourism, Telecommunication & Aviation is emerging at a very high rate in India. However the demand is not being fulfilled in an appropriate manner. The World Bank Survey (2007) unveils that Teaching Pedagogy in Indian University system has not been changed / upgraded since 1970. World Bank has suggested changing the education to meet the growing demands of industry, Professional / Technical education should be emphasized. Industry Institute interface should be strengthened, thus the Country of Youth (India) can do wonders. One of the basic problem lies in the vocational/ professional system is that systems & industry requirements keep changing rapidly. The role of Associations becomes vital here so as to bridge the gap between industry requirements & academic inputs, to ensure the quality education , to confirm the delivery of upgraded systems & technology both faculty as well as learners needs to be facilitated. |
| The above discussed & the research findings prompted us to have an Association of National Stature representing Academia & Trade with a focus on developing youth for Hospitality. However the novel idea of having an association like Indian Hospitality Congress was floated by Mr Ashish Dahiya the founder member of Department of Hotel Management Birla Institute of Technology Mesra the first university to open doors for imparting Hospitality Education Overseas says Prof Bagri – President IHC. To start with Mr. Dahiya launched India’s First University Journal of Hotel Management “ JOHAR- Journal of Hospitality Application & Research” published by BIT Mesra in association with Department of Tourism Govt. of Jharkhand. The over whelming response for Research in Hospitality further persuaded us to plan strategically ahead. Joining of Mr Dahiya as Reader in CMTHS strengthened our spirit & further we took opinion of Academicians in Hospitality & our friends from Industry which we found very warm & welcoming. CMTHS has always been a strong promoter of Research & Liaisoning of Academia & Trade since its inception in 1976. God willing IHC formally came into existence when Sh Prakash Pant Hon’ble Minister of Tourism Govt. of Uttarakhand agreed, announced & launched the official website of IHC “www.indianhospitalitycongress.net” on 27th September 2007 “ World Tourism Day along with Prof. S.P Singh Vice Chancellor – HNB Garhwal University, Prof S.C Bagri – Director CMTHS & President IHC, Prof Manjula Chaudhary – Sr Vice President IHC, Professor Tourism & Hotel Management Kurukshetra University, Mr. Ashish Dahiya & others dignitaries. IHC aims to provide a common platform to Hospitality Educators, Institutes, Professionals and Students so as to strengthen academic – industry interface, promoting & conducting research in hospitality, strengthening Indian Hospitality Literature, Acknowledge & appreciate contribution as well as advancements in hospitality and Developing Human Resources. |
|
|
