Sommet Education, UNWTO host webinar on hospitality in post-Covid world

"It wasn't easy and it took everyone by surprise. We were quite fortunate, since we are a hospitality management institute we were already equipped with the skills to deal with such a crisis-agility, adaptability," said Adrian Artimov

New Delhi: Sommet Education in collaboration with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) hosted a virtual webinar on how the hospitality sector has been affected due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and how it will fare in the future.

The webinar titled “Hospitality Education in the Post Covid World” provided students, entrepreneurs, industry insiders, and hospitality enthusiasts the necessary insights into the industry and the effect on it due to Covid-19.

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“It wasn’t easy and it took everyone by surprise. We were quite fortunate, since we are a hospitality management institute we were already equipped with the skills to deal with such a crisis-agility, adaptability,” said Adrian Artimov, Regional Director South Asia, Sommet Education.

“We quickly switched to an online model, keeping our students engaged and keeping that strong community vibe alive. We developed totally new on-line programmes in record time,” Artimov added.

The webinar also awarded three Indian students, Ipshita Kumar, Nikhil Roy, and Nivesh Bhagtani, for winning the hospitality challenge, organised last year by Sommet Education and UNWTO.

Their projects Lemonade Social, Hosbot, and Young Hotelier Network, respectively were presented at the webinar and attracted feedback to make their proposals better.

They will further compete for the seed money being offered by Sommet Education and UNWTO.

“During the pandemic, we were aware that there would be widespread job losses and people would be furloughed or we would have a situation where people would be partially employed. So we looked at providing them with online courses in order for people to use their time and enhance their skills,” said Suman Billa, Director of the UNWTO Department for Technical Cooperation and its Silk Road Development project.

“The second initiative we undertook was the Hospitality Challenge in collaboration with Sommet Education. And the third element that is still underway is the Job Factory programme, which is essentially a fair and free online marketplace for jobseekers and for their employers to shortlist based on skills,” Billa noted.