Considering education in the hospitality industry during Covid-19 raises all sorts of red flags since the tourism and hospitality sectors have come to a grinding halt across the world due to the pandemic, which first surfaced earlier this year. Thailand, particularly, has been hard hit as our tourism industry accounts for 12% of the nation's GDP.
Following measures to contain the virus by closing the doors to visitors in April, Thailand has seen massive employee layoffs in the hospitality industry. Fast forward eight months and we are hearing talk about reviving tourism for the sake of the nation's battered economy, however, despite Thailand's efforts to successfully rein in the virus for a substantial amount of time, reopening the country will need to be done with extreme caution as the pandemic is far from over.
With a pessimistic outlook of the current situation improving anytime soon, questions about how hospitality education institutions are surviving in such tumultuous times and keeping their students inspired and positive about the future have been raised.
One of the founding institutions that has stood the test of time is Dusit Thani College (DTC), which for over three decades has prepared students with state-of-the-art hospitality know-how to help make Thailand's once-booming tourism industry reach world prominence.
Gauging the challenges colleges such as the DTC are facing under the uncertainty of Covid-19 is new rector Frouke Gerbens, who has 25 years of experience in managing higher education institutions. She said that while the unprecedented global pandemic has brought world economies to their knees, hitting rock bottom is an opportunity to rebuild, both one's institution and oneself.
"While there are definitely challenges, one has to remain optimistic about the future as experience has taught us that be it wars, political upheaval or pandemics, nothing lasts forever," remarked Gerbens.
"Thailand has been successful in containing Covid-19, which in itself gives us much reason to remain positive. Meanwhile, as an institution, we are working on areas to better prepare our students with an additional set of learning tools to assist them in their careers under the new normal. I would best describe the challenges the college has faced so far as a learning curve. DTC reopened in mid-July after closing in March when courses were switched online. Things are in an upswing mode today as almost everything is back to normal. Whether it is in terms of operations or student life, students are having hands-on experience by learning culinary arts in the kitchen."
Gerbens said the reality remains that the impact of the pandemic has made educators re-evaluate their education process, especially with the need to put classroom lessons online due to social distancing measures.
She said what this has done to students is force them to miss out on vital experience one gets from receiving a university education in person, not just the academic side but also the collective encounters that come from interaction with other classmates and faculty members.
"Globally, I believe there is immense pressure on the mental health of students who are missing out on the social aspect of education because their countries are under lockdown to contain the virus from spreading," said the DTC rector.
"Moreover, it is also very demanding for teachers and professors to make the transition from the classroom to online teaching despite efforts of management to help them make that switch. There is also a significant number of students that have been put under the financial burden of forking out money for the technology and internet to take part in the new normal."
When one considers this, Gerbens said DTC being in Thailand has been fortunate as they have been spared these monumental challenges.
Because Covid-19 has been such an unparalleled incident, she said it was pivotal for DTC to learn from this crisis, paving the way to create a fresh and updated curriculum that would serve the students best in such unprecedented times.
"We need to take the lessons we have learned from this experience and integrate them into our crisis management courses. By doing this, we will help students to adapt to change when they begin working in hotel operations and are up against a crisis of similar nature.
"The Covid-19 experience has also put a great emphasis on hygiene, so making this an integral part of student education has become increasingly important. Communication is also a crucial aspect as we have to ask how do we teach communication in times of crisis? The importance of sending the right message across is something that needs to be mastered."
Gerbens believes that challenges facing DTC today have to be approached in a positive light to help both motivate and stimulate her team in creating new elements that infuse competitiveness and coping skills into the different courses available to students.
"Technological changes brought about due to Covid-19 led to an abrupt shift from site-based learning to online, which for many was a struggle, but in the end, the advantage was that it pushed us forward our efforts to digitalise.
"As a result of this, today we have discovered the advantages which have led us to become more comfortable with designing and delivering online courses, attempting to take a bad situation and make something good out of it."
Gerbens said DTC keeps the student body inspired by not just offering them the aforementioned career tools and professional guidance but by also helping them to think critically and develop a curiosity to find solutions to pressing issues such as what led to the pandemic. Was it mankind's overconsumption of animal resources and the relentless destruction of our planet's resources? She said that there is ample evidence to back the claim that these factors did play a role.
"We would like to use this opportunity to make our students aware of how precious our resources are. In the hospitality industry, particularly in a country like Thailand where a significantly high number of tourists visit and will visit after the situation bounces back, we need to be careful and watchful of these resources all the more.
"By thinking critically and searching for solutions on issues such as plastic waste, they can create projects as a result. Being in this mindset also builds better awareness of our environment and the need for sustainability."
