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TMS Asia-Pacific CEO Andrew Chan has directed the region’s tourism sector employers towards MBA graduates as an excellent potential source of highly qualified and readily available management candidates. Mr Chan’s comments follow a presentation he gave last week in Singapore to a group of Master of Management in Hospitality (MMH) students at Cornell Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management.
Mr Chan said a number of the MMH students, some of whom had been previously employed in the finance sector are now expressing a keen interest in finding senior employment roles within the hospitality and tourism sector.
Hospitality and tourism he said was a sector many believed had been seen to show more resilience in the current economic climate than others, and one which can offer a rich and rewarding career on a long term basis.
Mr Chan said the tourism industry has had a history of taking on people at entry levels and promoting them through to management level based on their experience but it was time for this to change. “Relevant experience within the hospitality and tourism sector has always been regarded as essential for getting a foot in the door,” he said. “And traditionally, graduates with industry specific degrees begin their tourism industry careers at an entry level or as assistants or trainees before being promoted and tackling more senior roles. But this is certainly not the case any more and a dearth of suitable qualified middle and senior management candidates has seen a change in the mind set. Today hospitality and tourism industry employers are now much more open to taking talent from outside of the sector. These people are the ‘managers of tomorrow’, they offer the sector massive potential and they’re all set to hit the ground running given the opportunity.”
Mr Chan was one of several senior hospitality executives from leading organisations who have addressed the MMH graduates as part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series 2009 at the Cornell Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management.
His fellow presenters included Dennis Melka, Director, East Pacific Capital, Peter Gowers, Chief Executive, Asia Pacific, InterContinental Hotel Group, Devin Kimble, Managing Director, Menu Pte Ltd (Brewerkz, Cafe Iguana), Chong Phit Lian, Chief Executive Officer, Jetstar Asia Airways and Michael Dwyer, Executive Chairman, Oxley Capital Group.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
