Mumbai: The Travel & Tourism industry today employs over 50 million people in India and is the largest employer after the government. According to World Travel & Tourism Council, the industry will grow exponentially to create 8 million additional jobs in India over the next 10 years. The contribution of the Hospitality industry to GDP is expected to rise from 8.6% (US$117.9bn) in 2010 to 9.0%(US$330.1bn) by 2020.

“The Indian hospitality industry is growing exponentially and is expected to create exciting career opportunities for students across the various segments of the industry including hotels, restaurants, transportation, entertainment, spas, corporate offices, hospitals, sports, conferences and many more,” said Michael Huckaby, Senior Vice-President Global Marketing & Admissions of Laureate Hospitality & Design.

Over the next ten years, the global Travel & Tourism economy is expected to grow by 4.3% per year, implying its share of the global economy will rise to just over 10%. This will help create an additional 66 million jobs by 2020 – 50 million of which will be in Asia.

Between now and 2020, the contribution of the travel and tourism economy to employment in India is expected to rise by almost 20% from 49 million to 58 million jobs. In 2020, one in every 9.6 jobs in India will be in the hospitality industry. India continues to be successful in elevating international tourism through campaigns such as the “Incredible India campaign” launched several years ago. This success has also contributed to the large amount of foreign investment by international hotel chains pouring into the country. This will result in doubling the number of foreign visitors to India in the next ten years.

Laureate Hospitality Education runs the world’s most renowned hospitality schools across Switzerland, Spain, China, Australia and USA. Les Roches International School of Hotel Management and Glion Institute of Higher Education, the two premier schools based in Switzerland, Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School in Australia and Kendall College in the United States, are part of Laureate Hospitality Education, and are among the most sought after Hospitality Management schools worldwide having a rich international faculty and student body with over 90 nationalities represented on different campuses.

Michael Huckaby said, “The availability of trained management personnel will be crucial for offering international standards of hospitality in India. We at Laureate Hospitality Education, deliver the highest quality University level hospitality education to develop leadership and managerial competencies for our students. The Indian students can benefit immensely from the managerial job prospects offered by the Indian hospitality industry.”

All Laureate Hospitality institutions offer the highest quality hospitality education through hands on learning, theory as well as professional internships throughout the world. In a recent global survey by the highly reputed UK based research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres, Les Roches and Glion were ranked jointly second in the world by industry hiring managers . The Australian institute Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School was ranked the number 1 school in Australasia by industry hiring managers for an international career.

‘The ranking proves that we have a very close link to the industry’, Michael Huckaby added. ‘We listen to the needs of the industry on a worldwide scale. Over 50 international companies come to our campuses each semester to recruit our students, both for a professional career after graduation or for an internship. Each semester, Indian students are exploring the world during their internships on all five continents, while our international students travel to India many times for their internship.’

The students at the LHE institutions take advantage of the excellent relationship with the industry. ‘On average, each student receives three job offers upon graduation’, Michael Huckaby stated. ‘Over 90 percent of our students have an employment contract signed within 3 months after graduation. These figures are not only showing that the hospitality industry provides many career opportunities, but also shows the success of the LHE schools.’

The opportunities for Indian students exist not just in India but extend to other markets around the world. “Globally, there has been an economic recovery led by rebound in the international travel, particularly in Asian markets. WTTC predicts that the real GDP growth of the Travel & Tourism Economy is now expected to rise by 2% this year, creating an extra 946,000 jobs worldwide,” Mr. Huckaby added.

Another major advantage of the eight LHE schools is the international transfer possibility. ‘Students can start their education in Switzerland for example and then move to Australia or the United States for one or two semesters’, Michael Huckaby explained. ‘And that’s not the only international advantage. Students are able to explore the world during their internships as our institutions have contacts with over 15,000 hiring managers in more than 75 countries.

The LHE schools offer a broad range of undergraduate, postgraduate and master programs in all sectors of the hospitality industry. In 2010, Glion Institute of Higher Education gave the hospitality education a new dimension by launching an Online MBA in international hospitality management. ‘The new Glion Online MBA aimed at working professionals has been extremely successful’, Michael Huckaby says. ‘Hospitality industry professionals who are already working fulltime can now obtain a masters degree from a reputable institution without stopping their current job.

Brijesh Paleri, Sales Automation Manager for Starwood Hotels in Singapore is an Indian student who is currently on the Glion online MBA program. ‘It would be extremely difficult to move out of the work environment and pursue a full time course on-campus due to the heavy opportunity costs. Loss of income, leaving the family and also cutting yourself out of the career path were some key reasons I decided to study online’, said Paleri. ‘This has been a revolutionary aspect of hospitality education and the Glion Online MBA is unique in the world.’