Service Attitude Development
Brendan Crasto, Head, Kuoni Academy talks about the need for travel and tourism professionals.
Q. What are Kuoni Academy’s key focus areas in 2013?
2013 will be a year of consolidation for Kuoni Academy. We completed 10 years in the travel education sector last year, and this year, we will focus on consolidating our position. Kuoni Academy will introduce 12 new programmes to provide students with the best learning opportunities. Previously, we adopted the Abacus GDS platform for our courses and our goal is to give exposure to all our students on various platforms used in the travel industry. Courses at Kuoni Academy, which cover travel and tourism as well as hospitality, focus on Knowledge Enhancement and Service Attitude development and we continue to ensure our students are up-to-date with current trends in the travel and tourism industry.
Q. What are your expansion plans for Kuoni Academy?
For FY 2013-14, we intend to expand our presence from 15 cities across the country to 24 cities. These will be a mix of metros and Tier II cities. We want to add a professional training touch to the travel and tourism industry not just in India, but also in key developing countries, therefore, we also plan to establish Kuoni Academies internationally, especially in South East Asia and Africa, where there is a significant requirement for travel and tourism professionals.
Q. How do you view the potential of the travel and tourism industry?
This is an industry with a continuous learning process and it is important to constantly update knowledge on various aspects of this industry. The need for travel professionals is on the rise. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), from US$ 6 trillion in 2011, the industry is going to move up to US$ 10 trillion over the next 10 years. By 2022, it is anticipated that the industry will account for over 325 million jobs, i.e. every 10th job one on planet earth will be a Travel & Tourism Job. With the kind of impetus that the tourism industry is witnessing, there is a requirement of professionals to manage the industry assets, resources and flow of tourists.