Can you believe this - 1.66 mn foreign tourists visited India between January to March 08

The numbers are getting better - Over 1.66 million foreign tourists visited India between January and March this year, and over five million foreign tourists had visited the country. In 2006 and 2005 was 4.45 million and 3.92 million respectively. Tourism and hospitality are growing sectors.

Here are some facts on the India Tourism.
• In India, inbound tourist expenditure per head is third highest in the world and even more than global average tourist spending.
• India has been promoting its health tourism it is expected that the number of tourists visiting India for the purpose of medical treatment will reach one Million by 2012, representing a CAGR of 28.09% from 2007.
• Disposable income in past (during 2001-2006) grew at a CAGR of 10.11%, thereby driving domestic as well as outbound tourism.
• Accommodations accounts for more than 50% of revenue earned by Indian hotel industry.
• Indian outbound tourist flow is expected to increase at a CAGR of 12.79% over the five-year period spanning 2007-2011.
• Tourist influx to India is expected to increase at a CAGR of 22.65% between 2007 and 2011.
• India's share in global tourism is expected to reach 1.5% by 2010.

With the growth of this sector of the Indian economy there is going be an even greater need for skilled workers to meet the demand of businesses and tourism travelers-it is time to put Hospitality and Tourism on the map as viable career to support these needs. This has to be a priority in order to build and maintain a competitive and global edge. It is an opportunity that government, education and industry must share together

From my perspective, educators generally must begin to pay much greater attention to developing strong and meaningful links with industry, and connecting the dots. This allows us to design programs and courses in a way that ensures students get the very "real-world" skills necessary to succeed in the India workforce.


But, of course, quality grads are not enough. In the face of a labor shortage, we need to produce more graduates. Educators are only one part of any co-coordinated solution.

Once students have been trained and have found employment, operators still face what is currently among one of their biggest challenges: employee retention. Even though business owners are well aware of the costs associated with high turnover, too many in the hospitality industry are still reluctant to make changes and, in some cases, continue to encourage the transient nature of careers in the business. In the past, we have been inundated by employers looking for "quick fix requests" for our graduates.

In other words, employers seeking to hire with no long-term staff planning, or strategies about providing value-added employment incentives.

Informed operators are not ignoring the current situation and are already taking the steps necessary to offset the labor demands through a series of progressive partnerships with Hospitality & Tourism educators. In return, these employers provide students with the training, experience and development opportunities necessary to build their careers and grow along with their employer.

The outcome of doing nothing will be the lost opportunity such of robust sector growth and an inability to properly serve the customer, who has expectations of unquestionable service and quality. However, changes are now underway - by schools to educate more graduates, and by industry to better satisfy employees - that give hope that tomorrow will bring continued prosperity.

As Dean of George Brown College's Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts, in Toronto we have an opportunity to build upon our present educational partnerships In Mumbai at The Institute of Hotel Management and with Chitkara University in Chandigarh to create meaning full learning experiences for students in India and In Toronto -thus producing a graduate give value added to the Indian tourism workforce
Exciting time in this exciting industry in India