Clarion Hotel to open hospitality training school

Harshini PERERA

The demand for hospitality staff is increasing ever since the tourism boom started recently.

The increasing number of hotels will also create more opportunities for hospitality staff. Hotel Clarion Hospitality Institute Principal Oliver. T. Liyanage told Daily News Business.

"Therefore, every part of the country should have a hotel school to cater and produce well-qualified hospitality personnel," Liyanage said.

He said trained staff in the hospitality trade is given higher salaries in the international market.

"There is a high demand for trained staff in hospitality trade from countries such as Middle East and the Gulf. The trained staff can engage in areas in lower categories such as food and beverages, house keeping and cookery in the international market," he said.

All the hotels in Sri Lanka pay the approved salaries by the Ceylon Tourist Board for personnel in the hospitality trade.

Liyanage said three star Hotel Clarion will open a hospitality institute for the benefit of school leavers in the Gampaha district. The students will be given free English and IT training apart from the theoretical and practical knowledge of the industry. He said that it is expected to enroll 60 students for a semester that consists of four months of theoretical lessons and two months of practical sessions.

"We will be delivering them knowledge with proper hospitality trends in all aspects. They will also be trained in the new concept such as eco, agricultural tourism, city hotels and beach resorts to help students understand the customer needs," he said.

"We have already advertised the hospitality institute in the internet expecting that many foreign students will get interested," Liyanage said.