“Graduate Roles in Hospitality Industry Post COVID-19" - International Web Lecture Series in Tourism and Hospitality (Lecture 9)

International Web Lecture Series in Tourism and Hospitality (Lecture 9)

“Graduate Roles in Hospitality Industry Post COVID-19"

Ninth lecture themed “Graduate Roles in Hospitality Industry Post COVID-19” was delivered by Prof. Parikshat Singh Manhas, University of Jammu, India, and Protf. Scot Richardson, Executive Dean and Associate Professor, The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, Dubai, UAE was held on 20^th May 2020 (Wednesday) at 1.00 pm (IST). Academicians, students and research scholars of various countries like UAE, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Malaysia, and India attended this lecture. This "International Web Lecture Series in Tourism and Hospitality" is an initiative taken by Prof. Parikshat Singh Manhas, University of Jammu along with Dr. Ramjit, Deptt of Tourism Studies, Central University of Kashmir, India, Mr. Nikhil Singh Chark, Assistant Professor, Ambedkar University, New Delhi, India & Dr. Jeet Dogra, Assistant Professor, IITTM Gwalior, Ministry of Tourism, India, under the Banner Borderless Educators Resilience 4 Tomorrows Tourism & Hospitality (BERTTH). Mr. Nikhil Singh Charak welcomed all the participants and gave a brief introduction about both the experts and coordinators.

Prof. Parikshat Singh Manhas initiated the session's proceedings by welcoming the co-speaker of the session Prof. Scott Richardson, participants and coordinators of the event. Prof. Parikshat Singh Manhas shared his valuable thoughts with the participants on the theme of the topic. He highlighted the importance of women in Tourism. He also suggested various innovative/immediate response and recovery practices while stressing on flexible working conditions and gender balance at the top table of crisis management. He also impressed that the industry practitioners need to be flexible, resilient, and taking care of workplace teams. He said that the food and beverage industry is going to bounce back, but there should SOP's like table management, delivery service pattern, and food safety norms. Prof. Parikshat emphasized that there is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of the hospitality graduates joining the industry in terms of completely adopting the new service norms. He stressed that students should prepare them self for remote hiring and online networking alternatives.

Prof. Scott Richardson in his address talked about the impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry worldwide, including India, European countries, and USA. He referred that possible changes may occur like New Hygiene practices, Digitalization of check-in and checkouts procedures, optimize operational space process, laundry operations, waste disposal and reduction in staffs, etc. He also discussed about various means through which above mentioned changing trends are going to affect the graduate role in the hospitality Industry. He said that we should focus on skilling staff and eventually domestic tourism shall bounce back. He also urged all the graduates to enhance their skills and learn new online courses from various educational platforms. He suggested that all graduates in the hospitality industry should be pro-active and flexible.

Questions & Answers followed the session by the experts Prof. Parikshat Singh Manhas & Prof. Scott Richardson who responded and constructively answered the participants' various questions. At the end of the session, a detailed report and a vote of thanks, presented by Dr. Ramjit, Coordinator and Sr. Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism Studies, Central University of Kashmir, and Coordinator of International Web Lecture Series.