With major international hotel chains betting big on India,  there™s a huge rise in demand for qualified professionals in the hospitality sector
THE INDIAN HOSPITALITY (aka hotel) industry is experiencing a surge, powered by an increase in business and leisure travel among domestic and foreign tourists. According to data released by the Union tourism ministry, 1,063 million journeys  were made by Indians within the country in 2012, while foreign tourist arrivals were 6.65 million. Moreover, with major international chains betting big on the country ” India is likely to host over 40 international hotel brands by 2015 ” there™s a huge rise in demand for qualified professionals in the hospitality sector. Therefore a growing number of youth countrywide are looking for hotel and hospitality management schools which suit their aspirations and aptitudes.
In the 2014 league table of India™s most respected hotel management institutes, respondents comprising 322 hotel industry managers, 138 faculty and 137 final year hospitality students have ranked the Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development, Delhi (OCLD) #1 for a second time. Promoted way back in 1966 by the Oberoi Group, a hotels and hospitality heavyweight which operates 28 five-star luxury hotels in five countries, OCLD is also top-ranked on all four parameters of excellence.
Otherwise, there™s been a major change in the pecking order of the Top 20 league table. The previously #3 ranked Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad (run in association with the Taj Group), has been upgraded to #2 this year while the Central government-promoted Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Mumbai (IHMCTAN), ranked second last year has been pushed to #3.
The Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal (#4) has traded places with the previously #4 ranked IHMCTAN, New Delhi (#5). Moreover, three hotel management institutes ranked #11-20 in 2013 have been upgraded to the Top 10 table ” Christ University, Bangalore (from #12 in 2013 to #7 in 2014); Merit Swiss Asian School of Hotel Management, Ooty (11 to 8) and IHMCTAN, Kolkata (14 to 9).
Expectedly, there is jubilation within the hotel management department of Christ University, Bangalore, ranked #7 this year against a relatively modest #12 last year. Every year, 60 students are admitted into the four-year bachelor™s degree programme in hotel management (tuition fee: Rs.75,000-100,000) at Christ U, which was conferred deemed university status in 2008.
œWe are very pleased with our improved #7 ranking. We™ve introduced several new subjects such as wine tasting and hotel ethics; increased the experiential learning component with two internships built into the course, while several top industry managers have been roped in as  visiting faculty to provide valuable industry perspectives. Christ is also the only hotel management institute in India to boast a tie-up with the Hilton group of hotels under which 17 students are selected for training and placement in Hilton hotels. Our placements record is also satisfactory with 70 percent graduates opting for jobs, and the rest choosing higher studies, entrepreneurship and/or joining family businesses, says Sushil Dwarkanath, an alumnus of Bangalore University with work experience in the Taj Group of hotels and currently head of Christ University™s hotel management school.
Likewise, Ranjit Chaudhury, principal of the Central government-founded IHMCTAN, Kolkata (estb. 1963), which has been promoted from #14 in 2013 to #9 this year, is elated over the institute™s Top 10 entry. Set up under the aegis of the Delhi-based National Council for Hotel Management & Catering Technology ” an apex body established by the Union tourism ministry to coordinate the growth of hospitality education countrywide ” IHMCTAN institutes (annual tuition fee: Rs.73,500-77,000) offer common curriculums.
œThis good news will inspire us to improve further. I am proud that IHMCTAN, Kolkata, is one of three IHMCTAN institutes which admits its fully sanctioned strength of 310 students every year. Our excellent faculty, applied learning focus, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and emphasis on industry interaction combine to make this institute the preferred choice of students clearing the IHMCTAN joint entrance exam, says Chaudhury.
Five of the 24 IHMCTANs (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Chennai) are ranked among the Top 10 while IHMCTAN, Hyderabad is ranked #11, and IHMCTAN, Gandhinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Jaipur and Guwahati have debuted at #13, #14, #15, #18 and #20 respectively. Indeed, the feature of EW India™s Top Hotel Management Institutes Rankings 2014, is the domination of the league table by IHMCTAN institutes which shows that government-run academies can compete and conquer.
To read India™s top hotel management institutes visit https://www.educationworld.in/rank-hotel_management/2014.html