Jyotsna Suri, CMD of Lalit Suri Hospitality Group has advocated strong and massive collaborative efforts between the government and the private industry stakeholders to overcome the talent and skill crunch the hospitality industry is facing in the country. She said this to Hospitalitybiz India on the sidelines of a certification ceremony of over 70 youngsters drawn from three states – Nagaland, Manipur and J&K – and supported by the Tribal Affairs Ministry, Government of India at the Lalit Suri Hospitality School (TLHS).
The students who have completed three months skill training at the TLHS campus at Badkal, Delhi NCR, will now undergo three months industrial training at various hotels of The Lalit Group. This was the first time TLHS has partnered with the Tribal Affairs Ministry for hospitality skill training of tribal youth.
“Although the hospitality industry is a major employment generator, we are not able to attract youngsters for our regular hospitality programmes to our institutes. So we have to continue working with government departments and other agencies to spread the message across,” said Suri.
She said that such skilling programmes will support employment generation in the country and at the same time get skilled manpower for the industry.
She also proposed collective outreach by the industry, including massive advertisement campaigns, to communicate to the potential young population of the country about career opportunities in the hospitality industry.
While hospitality jobs are equally rewarding and satisfying, Suri said that it was still not “in top of recall” for Indian youth and career aspirants. She called on the private industry to pool their resources for a “massive advertisement” campaign across media to foster awareness about career opportunities in the hospitality sector. “One person cannot do that. Need collective effort,” she said.
