Gloomy time for Sri Lankan hospitality sector
Sri Lanka’s hospitality sector is tackling constraints like a shortage of workers and others not joining the industry due to various reasons. On the other hand, the country’s political leadership expects tourism to grow rapidly amidst a serious shortage of workers, industry experts say.
To tackle some of these issues, the Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) has come up with a scheme to recognize and reward employees in the hospitality sector, titled ‘Rising Star of Hospitality 2017’ for the first time in Sri Lanka.
The aim of the project is to create awareness among the millennial on the true potential of the industry. The awards will be held on October 24 at the BMICH in Colombo. This was announced at a media briefing held at the Cinnamon Grand in Colombo on Wednesday.
During the question and answer session at the briefing, THASL President Sanath Ukwatte stated there is more of a lack of female workers in this industry than male workers. After completing the hotel management degree in Sri Lanka female students go abroad for training and never come back, he added.
Wages and service charges of Sri Lankan hoteliers are lower compared to that of hoteliers in other countries. This has compelled most potential Sri Lankan workers, not to engage much in the hospitality industry here, a member in the audience pointed out.
Mr. Ukwatte said, “The country has 22,000 star class hotel rooms in the formal sector which is expected to grow further by 6,500 rooms by 2020. At present the total investment is over US$ 3 billion and is expected to further increase by $1.5 billion by 2020. This by far is the highest investment any single sector has made in the country. The net earnings from tourist arrivals have now exceeded $3.5 billion (annually).”
Tourism is a highly lucrative industry for any country as it not only generates large direct and indirect employment but also attracts substantial investment, helping the country to earn much needed foreign exchange, added Mr. Ukwatte.
The ‘Rising Star of Hospitality 2017’ competition is aimed at the youth between 18 and 27 years of age and will be held in three phases. The first phase will evaluate job-oriented skills, competencies and will be held at a regional level. The second phase will evaluate the applicants based on the details provided in their respective candidate application forms. The third phase will further evaluate the contestants based on reviews obtained from the preceding rounds, following which the top scores will be further scrutinized through a one-on-one interview.
Young employees from 200 member hotels island-wide will be chosen under nine categories, where they will be evaluated based on outstanding capabilities, talents and personality traits by an expert panel of professionals. The nine categories are concierge/bellhop, receptionist, public area attendant, room attendant, steward/waiter, kitchen steward, bartender, pool attendant/lifeguard and telephone operator.