The brain drain in the hospitality industry is a major issue as many young people tend to enrol in short-term hospitality courses, work for a short period and then migrate overseas, said outgoing Institute of Hospitality (UK) Sri Lanka Chapter President Dr. Harsha Jayasinghe at the annual general meeting. Tourism accounts for about 13.3% of total foreign exchange earnings and employs 450,000 people and as arrivals increase by over 106% Lanka needs more qualified hotel staff.
He also said that steps should be taken to woo more women into the industry.
“I believe the use of technology in hospitality education and training sessions on industry-specific software and platforms may influence the younger generation to enter and remain in this sector.”
New Chairman, Ramesh Dassanayake the industry has to do a brainstorming session and find out and iron out the reasons as to why the youth are not joining the industry at the rate they move into other sectors.
He said that in addition to the ‘brain drain’ factor, staff are migrating from one hotel to another and this too is a concern. “Tourists pay their hard-earned money for hotels and standards must be maintained to make tourists happy.”
Hence the need of the hour for hotel schools and other professional institutions involved in skills development must look at increasing their intakes.”
“At the Institute of Hospitality UK, we all are excited about the Charter status that we hope to be bestowed with soon.”
He said that more than the number of arrivals, the focus should be given to increasing average earnings per tourist.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader, Sajith Premadasa, who was the Chief Guest said that with the highest number of tourists expected in the future as well, protection of the environment too should be a top priority. “Hence we need to have an environmental policy related to tourism in place.”
He also said that a better transport system should be in place to provide smooth domestic transfers for tourists. Premadasa also said that a long-term tourism policy should be formed which will encourage investors to engage in long-term tourism investments. “More steps should be taken to increase arrivals during the off-season and for this untapped markets should be explored.”
British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Andrew Patrick said with links in Sri Lanka that date back to over centuries, the island is a preferred destination for English tourists. “Though British tourists are number three in terms of arrivals their spending power is more which places them at the top in terms of revenue generation.”
He also praised the standard of local hotels which he said are world class. (SS)