Thanks to the ever-growing number of foreign and domestic tourists, the hospitality industry is poised for a boom and can help generate lakhs of jobs, said Mr Mohammed Shoeb, General Manager, Novotel Varun Beach, a five-star hotel of the Varun group.

He was delivering a guest lecture organised by Business Line Club in the Integral Institute of Advanced Management (IIAM) here on Tuesday.

Mr Shoeb said the hospitality and tourism sectors would open up huge job opportunities for management students and they should groom themselves to make the best use of the emerging opportunities.

‘Personality counts'

He exhorted the students to improve their communication skills, especially in English, and learn how to make themselves presentable. “In this sector, personality counts more than your academic skills. Of course, knowledge of your chosen subjects is essential. But more than that you need an effective personality,” he told the students and gave them tips on how to develop a personality.

He said that hunger for success, focus and the zeal to do a good job in the chosen profession would stand the students in good stead. “You should also realise very clearly that only a good human being can make a good manager and, therefore, cultivate the habit of understanding the problems of others sympathetically and empathetically,” he told the students.

He then narrated for the benefit of students his experiences in building up three-star hotels during the past seven-eight years — one in Vijayawada (Fortune Murali Park) and two in Visakhapatnam (Four Points Sheraton and Novotel Varun Beach).

He also spoke of his experiences with celebrities such as Sachin Tendulkar, Ratan Tata, and others during his 22 years' service in the hospitality sector. He said it was not merely an ego booster, but a highly educative experience, as he could watch the great men and women at close quarters.

Accor group

He t said the Accor group, the owner of the Novotel brand, wants to emerge as a major hotel group in India by 2015. “Accor group has 12 hotels now and the number will rise to 65 by 2015. Varun Beach here is one of the top ten five-star hotels in the country. It has 200 rooms and a huge convention hall, and all the rooms face the sea. The hotel will bring a lot of business to Visakhapatnam and build up Brand Vizag,” he explained.

Air connectivity

Mr Shoeb said air connectivity was improving at Visakhapatnam, with the launch of a flight to Dubai earlier this week, but many more flights to international destinations would be necessary for development of tourism.

“Visakhapatnam has all the locational advantages and enough tourist spots to emerge as a major tourist centre, but the infrastructure would have to be developed in a planned manner,” he said.

He later answered the queries of students.

Prof. Parvithiswara Rao, Director, and Mr Ravindra, Secretary, IIAM, also spoke.

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