Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Booming hospitality industry promises jobs

Anasuya Menon

Hospitality Job Fair - PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

Coimbatore: Mohammed Ashraf K.A from Kochi was waiting for his turn to submit an application at the job fair at VLB Janakiammal College of Arts and Science. With a Master's in International Business, he hoped to get an entry into the hospitality sector. "This is a chance to get an interface with as many employers as possible," he said.

The Hospitality Job Fair organised by the college, in association with Hospitality Educators and Recruiters Association (HERA), attracted hordes of job seekers from Kerala, Vishakapatnam, and a few even from Mumbai.

The first of its kind on a large scale in the hospitality industry, the fair had about 36 major hotel groups participating in addition to other service industries such as the airlines, banks, hospitals and even the Railways. Taj Group of Hotels, Radisson, Green Park, Trident Hilton, Club Mahindra Holidays and Resorts, Appollo Groups of Hospitals, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways were among them.

Apart from those with a background in catering science and hotel management, students from across disciplines were at the fair to try their luck. Even those who had completed BBM, B.A Economics, B.Com, and B.Sc attended. Many with a few years of job experience were also looking for fresh openings in the hospitality sector. V.D Dileep from Palakkad had two years of work experience. "I want to see if I could shop for better opportunities here," he added.

R.Ambika and V.Mahalakshmi, Biochemistry students from Avinashilingam University, wanted to weigh the possibilities of getting into the Appollo Hospital that had put up a stall.

The fair raised the hopes of the hotel management students more. "It is impossible to just walk into a hotel and meet the recruitment officer on one's own. At fairs such as these, we get an opportunity to place our resume with the hotels of our choice," said S.Ranjit Kumar, a student of Valluvar College of Hotel Management, Karur.

According to the estimates of the Hospitality Educators and Recruiters Association, the manpower requirement for five star hotels going to come up in Chennai would be 7,305 in 2007-2008. The number of people required for existing five-star hotels in Chennai alone would be 5,208. And in two and three-star hotels, restaurant chains and airlines, the requirement would be 3,415. "We are talking about Chennai, as it is an indicator for the rest of Tamil Nadu," said Vikram Cotah, Patron of HERA and Vice President of Radisson GRT, Chennai. Nine major hotel groups were opening in Chennai such as JW Marriot, Marriot Residences, Hilton, Ceebros Hotel, Ceebros Hotel - Airport, The Leela, Taj GVK, and the ITC - Grand Chola, he added. The requirement for skilled manpower was very high as the students passing out of catering colleges in Tamil Nadu did not cross 5,000, said Ajeet Kumar Lal Mohan, Director of School of Catering Science and Hotel Management, VLB Janakiammal College of Arts and Science. "There is a shortage of about 10,000 people in the industry now," Mr.Ajeet said.

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