The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Shangri-La Hotel recently held a ‘Hospitality Conclave’ – a discussion forum for school principals at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. Two hundred principals from schools across the island, including schools offering the technological stream in their curriculum, participated in the program.
The forum comprised of two sessions with resourceful panel discussions drawing attention on the importance of nurturing skilled employment in Sri Lanka and the seamless opportunities in the Hospitality sector for youth.
President, THASL, Sanath Ukwatte said, “I appeal to all hoteliers to offer internship programmes at hotels to students during their school holidays. This will instil an interest in travel and tourism in students from a young age.”
“Hotels should organise hotel visits for school students on a regular basis, where they will be enlightened on hotel operations.
This is the greatest effort you can make to encourage our youth to take Hospitality as a career opportunity in due course.
“Most of all our call goes to the Government and Ministry of Education to pay urgent heed to our request to explore the introduction of Travel and Tourism as a subject from Year 6,” he said.
As the third largest foreign exchange earner and the second largest net foreign exchange earner in the country, Tourism has played a pivotal role in generating a significant number of direct and indirect employment.