Students flock to hospitality

Students flock to hospitality

Dusit Thani College has revised its hospitality curriculum by developing lessons learned from the pandemic.
Dusit Thani College has revised its hospitality curriculum by developing lessons learned from the pandemic.

Despite the hotel industry facing grim prospects due to the global outbreak, hospitality institutes saw a growth in education demand from players who still have high hopes for a future comeback.

The hospitality businesses are among the hardest hit segments, but the industry itself expects fast recovery, so parents and students are confident about hospitality education, said Praweena Kasai, acting vice-rector for Academic Affairs at Dusit Thani College, subsidiary of Dusit International.

The number of students in bachelor's degree programmes for the 2020 semester starting on July 1 increased 27.5% compared with last year.

She said students are unfazed by the crisis as they still have to attend four-year programmes before graduating, by which time the situation should return to normal, she added.

The college expects to deliver 700-800 graduates to the industry per year, of which 95% are being employed.

Dusit Thani College, which was established as Dusit Thani Hotel School since 1993, closed temporarily from March to July to comply with the order from the Education Ministry during the outbreak.

The revenue from education business during the first half of the year dropped 15.4% year-on-year to 165 million baht.

Atthawet Prougestaporn, acting vice-rector for administrative affairs, said the college is adjusting educational content to ensure the pandemic is being used as case studies.

For instance, safety and hygiene protocols have been implemented in mock-up restaurants to teach students how to adjust traditional services with the needs of higher hygiene standards.

Dusit Thani College has to deliver online courses during the outbreak and the college has grasped on the opportunity to offer more courses in hybrid or fully online method.

Tim Bulow, Chief Operating Officer of Minor Education, the new business unit that operates the Asian Institute of Hospitality Management (AIHM), said AIHM has to emphasise the global outlook in the curriculum, particularly regarding how this global pandemic shapes the hospitality industry.

With regards to health and hygiene, food safety hygiene is a core course for new students taking hospitality courses.

The AIHM was founded by Minor Hotels in 2019 and has partnered with Les Roche, a leading Swiss hospitality school, in an academic association.

The first academic year in Bangkok and Pattaya campuses are set to start in April next year, which was delayed from October this year due to the outbreak.

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