Gujarat to get more hands in hospitality plans three institutes

In order to address the manpower crunch in the burgeoning hospitality sector, the Gujarat government is working towards opening more hotel management institutes in the state and has proposed to start an institute of hospitality management (IHM) at Patan in North Gujarat soon.

The proposed institute will be located in Patan and will be run by the Patan University, which has also given land for the same. With the growing demand for skilled professionals in the hospitality industry , the state government has plans of developing three more such institutes in different cities across Gujarat.

Gujarat government is actively promoting tourism in the state and now students from the state, who aspire to make it big in the hospitality industry, can now look home wards for fulfilling their dreams.

A highly placed source in the tourism department said, "Hospitality is an important sector for the state as we need a strong and employable workforce to take over the reins if tourism is to be developed here. Hence this move comes in the wake of the tourism ministry's many initiatives to increase the tourist footfall to the state and provide a effective workforce for the same. We have proposed a state IHM at Patan to this end. Once it is approved we are planning one in Surat (south Gujarat), one in Rajkot and one in Kutch. We have been communicating with the respective vice chancellors of these universities and they have all agreed to the proposal. So we are awaiting a nod from the Government's side to go ahead with the proposed institutes."

The state has registered a growth of 18-20% increase over last year's arrival figures. From getting Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan to become the face of Gujarat tourism through advertising campaigns, to tapping into adventure, religious and beach tourism, the state Government has plans of developing its tourism hubs in a phased manner. These hubs include are Ahmedabad Metro, Ahmedabad Rural (North Gujarat), Surat (South Gujarat), Vadodara (Central Gujarat), Rajkot, Junagadh, Jamnagar (Saurashtra) and Bhuj (Kutch).

"We have received the proposal by the tourism department to develop an IHM at Patan. Once approved if the Government feels that the proposal will infuse a regional balance with respect to the tourism needs of the state then it will invest upto Rs 12 crores for the same. It is in the process of being examined at the moment," said Devesh Chaturvedi, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism.

Currently the state has only one IHM in Ahmedabad that is affiliated to the National Council for Hotel Management and is sponsored by Ministry of Tourism, government of India and the government of Gujarat and offers degree, post graduate diploma and certificate courses in hospitality management.