Sunshine segment

Travel and tourism industry is one of the thriving sectors in the country. However, there are two prime reasons, which are inhibiting the growth of the industry - inadequate infrastructure and scarcity of trained manpower. According to the vice president and head, Kuoni Academy of Travel (KAT), Kamal Hingorani, "Most of the people who join the travel and tourism industry learn on the job and the formal training available in the field is not merely too less but moreover, not upto the mark.Travel is something which needs to be taught hands-on. At KAT we develop skills to make our students employable straight away."
KAT is an offshoot arm of Rs 668-crore Kuoni Travel India. Kuoni Travel Group is the world''s second largest and India''s largest travel group. Speaking about the reasons behind initiating KAT last year, Hingorani remarked, "KAT is a social endeavour to make youngsters employable even with six months of training. It was envisaged keeping in mind the burgeoning demand for trained personnel in the industry. World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has projected 10 million additional jobs in the travel and tourism segment in India, in next 10 years. And if we do not have the trained manpower to fulfil the requirement, it will lead to a chaotic situation."
KAT presently offers a six month diploma in airlines, which includes IATA fares and ticketing, computer reservation system (CRS), among others; one year, integrated course in travel and tourism management for 10+2 students that covers modules on tourism marketing, CRS, international ticketing and personality development, to name some; one year postgraduate diploma course in travel and tourism management for graduate candidates that additionally includes travel agency management, tourism demand, foreign language, et al and one year diploma in international tourism from City & Guilds, UK that offers inputs on development of the tourism industry, international tourism geography, business systems, marketing operations, communication skills and so on. "The soft-skills like personality development, conversational and negotiation skills are imparted to the students by NIS Sparta," he informed. KAT has moreover, been selected to train the employees of JET Airways and Air Sahara.
So, what essentially differentiates KAT from other travel and tourism trainers? "We are the sole academy to have a real-time computer system in India, that enables our students to make travel bookings just like in an actual situation. Our classroom sessions are highly interactive, for a two hour session, a trainer is instructed to speak for not more than 30 per cent of the time. Our trainers are people from the industry who have been groomed into training and apart from them, we get a lot of senior people from the industry to conduct sessions with our students. Our courseware is designed by the industry professionals and we constantly cover the changing concepts in the tourism sector. And last but not the least, we offer a state-of-the-infrastructure at our centres," Hingorani said.
With students being placed with organisations like Malaysian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada, Galileo, SITA and SOTC, JET Airways and Air Sahara, to name some, the academy boasts of a 100 per cent placement. Speaking about the future plans, Hingorani remarked, "Gargi college had approached us and we have recently started a KAT course in the college. We plan to introduce similar courses in other colleges as well. Apart from that, we plan to have our centres in all major cities of India by next year. Our vision is to make KAT a travel ''Harvard''." KAT centres are presently located at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.
www.kuoniacademy.co.in