2. INTRODUCTION
In simple terms, HRD is concerned with the development of the
human resource function in an organization. The term Human
Resource Development involves mainly two terms: Human
Resource and Development.
Human Resource which consists of the total knowledge, creative
abilities, skills, talents and aptitudes of an organization's work force,
as well as the values, benefits, and benefits of an individual involved
in the organization.
Development on the other hand involves enhancement of the skills
and abilities of the employee in the present job as well as making him
capable of doing so in the future assignments too.
3. IMPORTANCE OF HRD
•Growth of organization: It is associated with the development of its
workforce.
•Development of work culture: Improving the efficiency of
employees, better communication, development of mutual
cooperation and creativity of all the members.
•Developing potentialities: HRD manager focuses on enabling people
to self-actualize through a systematic approach leading to
development of their talents.
•Growth of employees: Helps employees to know their strengths and
weaknesses and enable them to improve their performance.
4. The importance of tourism and need of
HRD
As a creator of job opportunities, it can be understood from the fact
that in India every one million invested in tourism creates 47.5 jobs
directly and around 85-90 jobs indirectly.
In comparison, agriculture creates only 44.6 jobs and manufacturing a
mere 12.6 jobs.
Moreover tourism is the third largest foreign exchange earner after
gems and jewelers and ready made garments.
In spite of having a lot of tourism potentials, India’s share of global
international tourism is relatively small in volume i.e. about 0.40% of
world tourism.
5. The greatest thrust to tourism will come through human resource
development in our country.
We would have skilled persons to handle this industry right from the
level of waiters to executive level.
For instance countries like Fiji, which is one of the most popular
destination all over the world, have approached tourism training as a
national priority. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Indian tourism
is not enjoying the growth that India has been hoping for.
There is no doubt that India is an outstanding destination by many
standards but we are in an increasingly competitive global tourism
environment and unless all segments of the tourism experience are
operating to world standard it is easy for travellers from major source
markets to try other destinations and make comparisons which may
not necessarily be in India's favour.
6. The specific role of the Public and Private Sector in the
Tourism Industry is to
1.Build and manage the required tourist facilities in all places of
tourist interest.
2.Assume collective responsibility for laying down industry standards,
ethics and fair practices.
3.Ensure preservation and protection of tourist attractions and give
lead in green practices.
4.Sponsor maintenance of monuments, museums and parks and
provision of public conveniences and facilities.
5.Involve the local community in tourism projects and ensure that the
benefits of tourism accrue to them in right measure.
7. 6.Undertake industry training and man-power development to achieve
excellence in quality of services.
7.Participate in the preparation of investment guidelines and marketing
strategies and assist in database creation and research.
8.Facilitate safety and security of tourists
9.Endeavour to promote tourism on a sustained and long term
perspective.
10.Collaborate with Govt. in the promotion and marketing of
destinations.
8. ISSUES
Inadequate training and inappropriate selection of government
employees .
Poor working environment for the employees.
Poor moral and lack of involvement of employees in the management
decision making process.
Irrelevant job description of employees.
Employees Turnover or high Attrition Rate.
Inadequate evaluation of the skills and level of performance of the
employees.
Poor work ethic amongst public sector employees.
9. The goal of sustainability oriented tourism development requires a
number of human resources development (HRD) strategies aimed at
the tourism industry personnel, host community and the tourists, and
underpinned by concepts and practices of sustainability.
Sustainability based work culture, professional ethics, and operational
practices are basic to sustainability in tourism. Indian tourism, despite
its immense potential, has seen tardy development, and shortcomings
in the HRD domain have been one of the reasons for this below par
performance in terms of unorganized and untrained human resources
and unattended HR issues and policies at major and minor level both.
Availability of skilled manpower is a major challenge faced by the
travel and tourism industry, which is one of the largest employment
generators in the country. To sustain growth in the travel and tourism
industry, trained manpower/ workforce is required at every level —
managerial, supervisory, skilled or semi-skilled because the challenges
faced at each level are different.
10. At mid and senior management levels, the industry faces talent crunch.
At the front-line staff level, although human resources are adequate, a
boom in other service industries such as banking, retail, airline and
BPO have resulted in shortage of manpower for the travel and tourism
industry. Thus, we have a Demand-Supply Mismatch with respect to
manpower in the travel & tourism and hospitality sector in India.
A study conducted by Ministry of Tourism suggests that existing
supply of human resources do not cater to even 40% of the demand of
the Tourism Industry. Thus, the industry has no alternative but to fill
the void with untrained resources. Such a high proportion of untrained
manpower would adversely affect quality of services offered to the
tourists.
Attrition, shortage of tourism training infrastructure, qualified trainers,
and lack of proper strategies and policies for human resource
development also affect the industry. So, the industry needs to address
these problems at the earliest.
11. In addition to tour operators and hotel staff, tourists interact with
persons from different backgrounds, occupations and experience. Such
people include staff at bus/railway station, immigration staff at
airports, taxi/coach operators, ticketing/ travel agencies, small hotels,
dhabas/roadside eateries, staff at heritage sites, and tour guides, among
others.
The degree of service offered by these various stakeholders has a
significant impact on determining the tourist’s overall experience of
India as a tourist destination.
The government has to take initiatives to promote responsible tourism
by sensitizing key stakeholders of the tourism industry through
training and orientation, to develop a sense of responsibility towards
tourists and inspire confidence of foreign tourists in India as a
preferred destination. One such major initiative is the “Atithi Devo
Bhava” campaign. More such efforts are required to improve the
degree of service across various operators.
12. The Action Points Relating to Human
Resource Development in Indian tourism
industry
The hospitality and service sector has assumed high priority with the
growth of tourism and the diversification of tourism activities.
At present, the Ministry of Tourism is running 21 Institutes of Hotel
Management and Catering Technology (IHMs) and 14 Food craft
Institutes (FCIs).
The IHMs provide 3-year Degree in Hotel Management in
collaboration with IGNOU. Some of them also provide-
1-1/2 year Post-Graduate Diploma in Accommodation Operations,
1-1/2 year Post- Graduate Diploma in Dietetics and Hospital Food
Science,
13. 6- month Certificate course in Hotel and Catering Management.
1-1/2 year Diploma course in Food Production, Bakery & Patisserie,
Front Office Management, Accommodation Operations and Food &
Beverage Service Operations.
The FCIs are engaged in providing the craft Diploma in Cookery,
Food & Beverage Service/ Restaurant & Counter service, Reception &
Book Keeping, House Keeping and Bakery & Confectionery.
The trained manpower released during the Eighth Plan period was
7168 persons. The tentative target in the Ninth Plan is to produce
12000 Diploma holders in Hotel Management and 16000 manpower in
other crafts courses.
A majority of Institutes operated by the Ministry have attained self-
sufficiency in meeting the revenue expenditure. No new IHMs are
proposed to be set up in the Ninth Plan period.
14. In view of the employment generation potential of the craft level
trained manpower, 15 new FCIs are to be set up in the Ninth Plan.
The training courses run by the Institutes should be designed to suit
the needs of the various target groups.
Strengthening the institutional set-up for human resource
development including the setting-up of an Advanced Institute of
Hotel Management and a Culinary Institute including An Executive
Development Centre.
Qualitative improvement and modernization of existing training
institutions.
Setting-up at least one Food Craft Institute in each State, particularly
in North Eastern States.
Improving the standards of training in private institutes through
accreditation and quality control.
15. Setting up a National Tourism Documentation Centre equipped with
modern technology systems to function as a repository of research
findings and publications on tourism.
Involving the tourism industry in human resource development
activities and encouraging them to set-up independent training
facilities.
Streamlining and strengthening of guide training and training of other
grass root level workers.
Introduction of optional courses in tourism related topics at Graduate
and under Graduate levels in order to meet requirement of trained
personnel in this sector.
16. An assessment of the training infrastructure estimates a total of 337
training institutes in the Hospitality sector and 101 travel and tour
institutes offering courses related to ticketing and tourism as in March
2010 which appears to be significantly low.
As per a study by the Ministry of Tourism, only 50 per cent of the
employees in the key functional domains of hotels are fully trained with
this statistics reducing to 35 per cent for restaurants and other eating
outlets.
This necessitates the immediate need for formal training especially for
the hospitality sector employees. In addition, proper selection of hotel
management students, increased focus on grooming and communication
skills, on the job training, courses in foreign languages and
standardization and monitoring of curricula in private institutions may be
required.
17. Several skill development areas have been identified for employees
engaged in the tourism sector in India. Formally trained managerial
staff accounts for only 16 per cent of the total hospitality sector and 21
per cent of the total travel and trade sector workforce.
Efforts are thus required for enhancing the skill sets of non managerial
staff in the sector. With 20 per cent of the travel and trade sector
employees comprised of casual workers, development of basic skill set
is important.
These include health and personal hygiene, cleanliness, basic service
techniques, cooking techniques, garbage disposal, etiquette and basic
manners, basic nutrition values, basic tourism awareness, first aid,
client handling and behavioral skills etc.
18. Sr no. Course No. of
course
No. of
trainees
Total
Expenditure (Rs.
in lakh)
1 Snow Skiing 6 480 40.30
2 Water Skiing 10 300 84.80
3 Trekking 10 200 33.95
4 Parasailing 10 200 24.41
5 Hot Air Balloon 5 100 37.30
For example: This year, the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned an
amount of Rs.220.76 lakh to the Indian Institute of Skiing &
Mountaineering, Gulmarg (IISM) for conduct of adventure courses as
follows:
Total 41 1280 220.76
19. Paryatan Bhawan in Delhi and at State
Capitals
Setting up of Paryatan Bhawan in Delhi as one stop tourist reception
centre to cater to various needs of travelers, foreign as well as
domestic and offer air and train reservations, money changing
counters and information about all tourist centers with e-connectivity
and networking facilities to all State tourist offices.
Construction of similar State level Paryatan Bhawans at State
Capitals has been commenced which will need trained professionals
for their proper functioning.
20. INITIATIVES BY THE GOVERNMENT
FOR TOURISM PROMOTION
‘Hunar se Rozgar’ Programme
A special initiative was launched in 2009-10 for the creation of
employable skills among youth belonging to economically weaker
sections of the society in the age group of 18-25 years (upper age limit
raised to 28 years in November, 2010) with the basic objective to
reduce the skill gap affecting the hospitality and tourism sector and to
ensure the spread of economic benefit of tourism to the poor.
The programme offers short duration courses of 6 to 8 weeks which
are fully funded by the Ministry of Tourism.
21. Initially covering two courses
(i) food and beverage service; and
(ii) food production,
courses in Housekeeping, Utility, Bakery and Patisserie were added
subsequently.
With the growing acceptability of the initiative more trades/training
areas were added like- drivers, stone mason and security guards
etc.
For the year 2012-13, 21175 persons have been trained under the
initiative up to 31 January 2013.
The basic objective was to reduce, through this initiative, the skill gap
that affected the hospitality and tourism sector. Another objective
was to put in place a dispensation to ensure that the economic
benefit of a growing tourism reached the poor.
22. It provides training to youth in areas like –
Tourist facilitators programme for pilgrimage tourism being conducted
at IHM Srinagar in the following areas –
• Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Katra.
• Shri Amarnath Yatra, Srinagar.
• Shrines of Kashmir at Srinagar.
• Buddhist Monasteries at Leh.
A scheme to train persons for induction as service providers in certain
specified areas of tourism (Golf Caddy)
It has been decided to provide assistance to the Ministry of Tourism
sponsored Institutes to conduct training and one week SKILL
TESTING & CERTIFICATION Programme subject for waiters and
cooks to improve the quality of service working in various
organizations.
23. The Capacity Building For Service Providers Scheme aims to develop
a sustainable Rural Tourism product, converging with the Ministry’s
Rural Tourism Scheme through tourism awareness, capacity building
for tourism/hospitality services, gender equity, gurukul, environment
care and marketing.
The Scheme will thereby also support rural livelihoods, enabling low-
income rural communities to articulate their skills for experiential
visits by domestic and international visitors.
24. Indian Tourism Development Corporation
India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) came into existence in
October 1966 with the objective of developing and expanding tourism
infrastructure in the country and thereby promoting India as a tourist
destination.
Working on the philosophy of public sector, ITDC succeeded in
achieving its objectives by promoting the largest hotel chain in India and
providing all tourist services, i.e. Accommodation, Catering, Transport,
in-house Travel Agency, Duty Free Shopping, Entertainment, Publicity,
Consultancy, etc., under a single window.
It also offers consultancy services from concept to commissioning in the
tourism field both for private as well as public sector.
25. The Ashok Institute of Hospitality & Tourism Management
(AIH&TM) of ITDC has been associated with the pioneering efforts in
human resource development for more than three decades. Awarded
the ISO-9001-2000 Certification, the institute conducts 18 months
Craft/Certificate courses in the field of Culinary Skill Development,
besides providing training to management trainees/apprentices and
organizing Executive Development programmes for the officials
of ITDC.
Under an MOU signed with the prestigious Kurukshetra University,
the AIH&TM started 4-year Bachelor's Degree Course in International
Hospitality Business Management from August 2004.
26. ITDC has been a pioneering tourism organization which provides all
the tourist services/facilities under one roof.
ITDC's present network consists of 8 Ashok Group Hotels, 7 Joint
Venture Hotels including one under construction, two Restaurants
(including one Airport Restaurant), 13 Transport Units, 1 Tourist
Service Station, 37 Duty Free Shops at International as well as
Domestic Custom Airports, 1 Tax Free outlet, 1 Sound & Light Show
and 4 Catering Outlets.
Besides, ITDC is also managing a Hotel at Bharatpur and a Tourist
Complex at Kosi and a S&L show at Sabarmati, Ahmadabad owned by
the Department of Tourism.
27. CONCLUSION
"Human Resources Development" is increasingly gaining attention from
human resource specialists, academicians and employees alike. The
importance of HRD will undoubtedly increase further. There is likely to
be a knowledge exploration in HRD in the next decade.
According to WTO forecast, tourism growth prospects for India are very
bright and tourist arrivals and receipts are likely to increase during the
coming years. With these growing trends in the tourism industry in India,
which is labor intensive industry or a 'people industry', HR plays an
important role in managing, operating, planning and promoting tourism
industry.
Therefore, HRD efforts in tourism industry require a major
transformation in the attitudes, behaviors and values of employees and
management.
28. This can be possible if appropriate conditions are provided by the
organization to make HRD successful and introduce it as a total
system within the industry. Thus, HRD has a major role to play for the
development of this sector.
Indian tourism has vast potential for generating employment and
earning large sums of foreign exchange besides giving a flip to the
country’s overall economic and social development.
Much has been achieved by way of increasing air seat capacity,
increasing trains and railway connectivity to important tourist
destinations, four lane roads connecting important tourist centers and
increasing availability of accommodation by adding heritage hotels to
the hotel industry and encouraging paying guest accommodation.
29. Since tourism is a multi-dimensional activity, and basically a service
industry, it would be necessary that all wings of the Central and State
governments, private sector and voluntary organizations become
active partners in the Endeavour to attain sustainable growth in
tourism if India is to become a world player in the tourist industry.
