The UTE Lanka Italian Education Centre was launched in Sri Lanka recently for the benefit of youth aspiring to enter the country’s tourism industry.
“Most of the youth demand jobs from the government. However, with the development of new jobs in the sectors such as Information Technology and tourism, this trend has changed,” CEO, UTE Lanka Italian Education and Hospitality Management Centre, Upali Gunasekara said.
The centre will provide the ideal platform for youth who need better qualifications to go up the career ladder. They will not have to go begging for government jobs in the future, he said.
This Italian collaboration in hospitality education is an important step in producing competent Human Capital for the rapidly growing tourism sector of the country. The Italian Language and Hospitality Management facility will enable the youth to gain the much needed exposure and knowledge to contribute more towards the betterment of the tourism industry, Senior Lecturer, Coordinator, Master of Tourism Program, University of Colombo and the Secretary General, Tourism and Hospitality Education and Research Association of Asia, Dr. Suranga de Silva said.
“This will be a rare opportunity for Sri Lankan youth as there is a huge market for tourism in Europe. Italy is considered as one of the top countries in the wine industry. As there is a dearth of sommeliers in the hotel industry in Sri Lanka it is extremely heartening to see that these types of courses have been launched in our country. With the Italian language skills and professional excellence that Sri Lankan youth gain from these courses, there will be a high demand for them in Sri Lanka and outside the country,” he said.
Around 60 million tourists visit Italy. The right training is necessary to serve these tourists. UTE Lanka launched this program to address this issue. During summer, there are a lot of vacancies in Italy and trained youth could make this an income generating avenue, he said.
The education centre will have a positive impact on our tourism industry while providing training to local youth and enabling the industry to move to the next level.
The focus on teaching the Italian language and culture will help students gain better qualifications. Students who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate from UTE and an opportunity will be opened for the students to have further training in Italy or any other country, President, University of European Tourism, Italy, Prof. Marina said. “We need to offer the right skills and knowledge to suit global needs. The training which has a global approach will help youth to be employed not only in Sri Lanka, but also in other countries,” she said.
“With more countries engaging in the tourism industry it has become more competitive.
In meeting this competition, it is necessary to have the right skills and knowledge. I am confident that the local youth will be responsible to acquire knowledge on new standards,” Prof. Marina said.
The education centre targets 50 students at the first intake, and there will be an Italian teacher to train the local youth on an ‘Italian approach’.