07 Jun 2022  |   04:55am IST

Is hospitality management a sinking ship?

Goa is synonymous for its laid back culture, sunny beaches and the siesta. Football and music are said to be part of every Goan's blood, as is joining the hospitality sector, following in the footsteps of an earlier family member. Many Goans are known to cruise into the hospitality industry after their 12th std, but is that changing now?

Abigail Siqueira

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ecently the CM while speaking at a seminar on ‘Vocational guidance in Hospitality services’ pointed out that youth from other states were entering into the hospitality sector while the Goans were shying away from it. He further said the reason behind this could be that Goans were not interested in the field or perhaps not really aware of the possibilities .

Various Hotel Management training institutes, all over Goa, had interesting reactions to this statement. Guardian Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Principal Joacquim Rebello said the reason behind Goans shying away from the hospitality sector could be due to lack of advancement opportunities “I feel Goans are shying away because they are not getting proper opportunities for their growth, and because they shy away, others end up taking advantage” he said. On being asked about the kind of opportunities Goans aren’t getting, he elaborated, “By opportunities, I mean, when it comes to whatever incentives, especially in the technical field, they are not getting enough opportunities to grow”. He goes on to say that it has become very expensive to pay for fees in Goa and some people aren’t able to maintain a decent standard of living. However, the reality on the ground was slightly different. Several Goans turn up for the admissions . “Nonetheless there are a lot of takers as far as our admissions are concerned, we are basically for Goan students, and we see the admissions are full, actually 99% of all students are Goans in our institute. There are many non-Goans wanting to come here, infact today itself there were two boys, one from Honnavar and the other from Hubli, but we were not able to give them admissions because we give the first preference to Goans, if there are vacancies at the end of the third round, then we allow students from other states, last year we allowed only one person from Karnataka” The Goa College of Hospitality and Culinary Education, Panaji, disagreed with the statement saying that Goans don’t really shy away as they get admissions from Goan students most of the time. However, Sunit Roy, Enviroskills Academy said, he disagreed with the statement. He said youth from other states were coming in but he goes on to say, “In my opinion, when it comes to Goans, I believe they are more into ‘susegad’, it is just like being in Agra and seeing the Taj Mahal, Goans feel that they are the people who have access to the hotel and the customers at any given point of time, so the importance of the hotels present in Goa are not very predominant in their minds.”Gesto Culinary & Hospitality Academy, Porvorim also disagrees with the statement above, but declared however, that that there are opportunities available, but Goan youth do not want to avail of them. “Goan youth do not want to take up hospitality, there are opportunities, but they are not taking it up, so slots get filled with outsiders. It may be because Goan youth want to venture into other fields but mostly because they do not want to start from scratch, they just want high positions, they do not want to start with the basic work. It’s not because they are not interested, it’s because they do not want to work, and that’s their attitude”.

Rayzel D’Cruz, Sales and Marketing IIHM Institute, Nuvem Goa replied in the affirmative stating, “Yes, the Goan youth are shying away because of various reasons. They do not get the right salary for the type of education they have done. Secondly, they also do not get the right job they are interested in because most of the time the government caters to most of the outsiders”. She further goes on to mention that when it comes to the hospitality sector in Goa, they are made to work overtime in many cases, and are not paid for it. “The hospitality industry is a booming industry and provides a range of job opportunities but what can our Goan Youth do when they are made to struggle to earn a living?” she commented. Whether you may agree or disagree, the fact remains the same that the Goan Hospitality sector is booming with opportunities, all the students need to possess is a right attitude towards learning.