By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: The hospitality industry, presently passing through a huge crisis in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, needs to work to preserve and protect a sector which is a vital contributor to the economy and livelihood of millions of people across the world.This view was expressed at a webinar on ‘Capacity Building in Hospitality Sector: Challenges in Post Pandemic Scenario’ organised by the School of Hotel Management (SHM), faculty of hospitality and tourism management of the SOA Deemed to be University here.
The webinar was part of a series of such interactions organised by SHM on the theme ‘Aatithya—Past, Present and Future’ during May and June. It had earlier organised a three-day international workshop on the same theme from December 18 last.The scope was to explore, review and reassess the existing capacity building ability in the hospitality industry and designing a comprehensive and integrated approach that nurtured excellence, expansion and positive change in all areas of human experience, speakers said.The hospitality sector, which was growing at a rate of approximately 8 per cent, could be broadly classified into hotel, travel and tourism, restaurants, pubs, clubs and bars, contract catering and aviation, they said.
Prof. (Dr.) Sitikantha Mishra, Advisor-cum-Dean, SHM, introduced the theme in the webinar with the other participants including Dr. S.S.Mantha, former Chairman of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Chancellor, KL University, Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Das, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, Dr. Sandeep Kulshreshtha, President, Tourism and Hospitality Educators and Research Association of Asia, Dr. Turaev Bakhodir Khatamovich, Professor, Skill Road International University of Tourism and Samarkand State University, Uzbekistan, Dr. Swarup Sinha, Principal, ITC Hospitality Management Institute, Gurgaon and Dr. Kevsar Cinar, senior faculty member, Neemettin Erbakan University, Turkey.The webinar was moderated by Dr. Kiran Yadav, Vice-President, IIPT, India chapter and was coordinated by Dr. Sasmita Mohanty, Associate Professor, SHM. Prof. Patitapaban Mohanty, Assistant Professor, SHM, proposed the vote of thanks.
