In India today, the tourism and hospitality industry is quite upbeat and is looking for trained manpower. For the first time, Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council, a product of the National Skill Development Council and an initiative of Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana, launched a website with an effort to link the tourism and hospitality industry with its training partners and skilled manpower for facilitating job options. The platform called thsc.skillgrid.in was launched in Kolkata recently. A panel discussion was held in which trainers along with professionals from tourism, hospitality, food and beverage sectors were present. Presiding the conclave, Jaideep Anand, general manager, The Leela Ambience Delhi Convention Hotel said, “The council has a panIndia presence and it took off in West Bengal around three years ago. West Bengal is one of the fastest states in India that has taken up the courses of the council. We identify the skill partners who will administer the courses and have focused on the quality improvement of the trainers at the meet. The council imparts training to groom candidates as front office professionals in the tourism and hospitality segment.”

The council offers around 128 skilled courses and reaches out to the sectors like tourism, hospitality, cruise liners, food service restaurants and facilities management. Anand further said, “The council also shapes the career of front office staff in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited, super-fast trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express and new-age commercial establishments. We are all set to open a premier skill centre at Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh that will produce trained manpower with sound conversation skills in English.”

The crux of the hospitality industry is based on manpower and training and West Bengal prides in having a well-established hospitality sector.

Sundeep Chhabra, national head (training), THSC said, “Nearly 25,000 students from West Bengal had enrolled in our course last year and this time around, we have around 5,000 students from the state till now.” There is an enormous potential for mountain and wildlife tourism in the eastern Himalayas of North Bengal and Sikkim. Anand further added, “Tourism has the potential to generate the highest number of jobs across the country. The hospitality industry is on an expansion binge and there are a lot of options for budget travellers. Kolkata is the gateway city and the hospitality sector is quite bright here.

These days, serais and motels are coming up. Therefore, candidates need to be groomed in a standard way. We expect around 10 to 12 per cent growth in the hospitality scene of West Bengal in four years’ time.” States like Uttarakhand and some states in North-east like Mizoram have recently begun the course.

“The cuisine of West Bengal is genetically sound in terms of quality and the state has given birth to some of the best chefs in the country. The eastern state of Odisha has an immense potential in beach and medical tourism. On the other hand, the North-eastern states like Assam, among othes, generate a plethora of tourism business,” Anand signed off.