Tourism | IFT sees demand growing for hotel professionals’ enhancement

The local hotel and hospitality industry has placed greater demands on its human resource personnel, Fanny Vong, president of the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT), revealed.
Ms Vong presented certificates to fifteen hospitality professionals from local hotels and resorts yesterday, following the completion of a two-day executive development program entitled “Key to Personal Effectiveness” at the IFT.
The institute has been responsible for organizing two to three management seminars each year, offering diversified training opportunities to local hotel industry professionals with the purpose of enhancing the sector’s overall development.
“There’s always demand for executive-level training opportunities. As hotels’ requirements grow higher and higher, they also expect their personnel to develop themselves, so they are very willing to sign up for these courses to satisfy their executives and managers,” said Ms Vong.
“We found these executive development programs can attract professionals because the topics suit their demands. Every time, the topic is different depending on the sector’s expectations, so as to offer the content they need most urgently,” she added.
The most recent seminar was co-organized by Switzerland’s Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) with the support of senior hospitality consultant Mr Wei-Cheng Chen. The organizer outlined the purpose of the program as to “enable participants to recognize and understand the people they are dealing with and to develop the best approach for communication.”
“As the tourism and hospitality industry is growing swiftly in Macau, the demand for knowledgeable professionals is increasing and thus hotel management needs to develop itself to cope with the changing market trends. This module addresses the key requirements in the area of ‘effective communication’ to help participants to improve their leadership skills. It is hoped that participants can always strive towards fruitful collaboration with people they are dealing or negotiating with.”
“It helped participants to understand that their perceptions of the world, work and the other people in their lives are affected by past experiences, their expectations and where they place their priorities. Their level of performance and overall teamwork results can be significantly impacted by an increased self-understanding and understanding of others, by enhancing their ability to adapt and by improving their ability to connect with others in both personal and professional domains,” the IFT stated in a press release.
The IFT has also been collaborating with Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration in organizing training programs. The most recent one was focused on Facilities Management. “Whether you are a local professional or from the mainland or overseas, you will encounter those topics as long as you work in hotel and hospitality,” explained Ms Vong.
In addition, the president remains optimistic about the employment prospects of graduates, although the hospitality sector has been recently affected by the downturn of the gaming industry. “The industry has always been short of human resources; it’s likely they will continue hiring staffers this year to be able to fill the positions, thus relieving the pressure of the manpower shortage,” she explained.