Hospitality education gets lift from Marriott initiative

Teachers and students of tourism and hospitality discipline have welcomed The Marriott China Hospitality Education Initiative (CHEI), a charitable effort funded by The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.

CHEI was created to enhance hospitality education, leading to rewarding careers for the next generation of China's hospitality leaders.

The initiative offers menu-like programs to institutions and educators who teach students in tourism and hospitality sector.

It's aimed at those with a passion to work in China's booming tourism services, taking an "educating the educators" approach that enable teachers in the tourism and hospitality sector to experience the real world challenges and rewards in faculty internship, field trips, exchange program in intuitions in the US.

They get easy access to education resources such as videos and textbooks, said Carl Winston, managing director of the CHEI program.

In this way, teachers can deliver up-to-date knowledge and soft skills to their students in class, which will benefit China's tourism and hospitality sector in the long run.

Since launching CHEI in the summer of 2014, more than 450 teachers from 67 CHEI partner schools across China have participated in one or more CHEI programs, and these teachers have the potential to affect more than 55,000 hospitality students.

Wang Yuanhao, president of Anhui Zhong Ao Institute of Technology, said the institute has benefited greatly from participating in the program.

During the faculty internship, teachers who work in hospitality institutions such as hotels soon find out the discrepancies between textbook and real-world challenges.

There are a lot of scenarios which are not included in textbooks which actually occur frequently on a day-to-day basis, which help teachers develop their own curriculum, and deliver these findings to students, said Wang.

China's tourism and hospitality market is developing at such a fast pace that training students after they graduate will be insufficient.

Educating the educators will help the market to get professionals prepared when they are still at school, and they will understand the real-world at the same time as they develop theoretical understanding of the sector, said CHEI chief Winston.

China's travel and tourism industry is booming and offers tremendous employment opportunities for Chinese youth.

According to data of the World Travel & Tourism Council, of the 70 million new jobs that travel and tourism will create globally by 2023, two-thirds, or 47 million, will be in Asia.

Anne Gunsteens, executive director of The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, which funds the program, said the program, which is scheduled to run until 2018, has been making efforts to ensure it meets the specific demands of China's teachers and students in the tourism and hospitality sector.

The team running the program in China takes into account the views and opinions of schools, teachers and students to understand their specific requirements.

"At first some suggested that the program should offer some scholarships and facilities. But in fact we find out that providing opportunities and educational resources are most helpful," said Gunsteens.

wuyiyao@chinadaily.com.cn