Fiji National University hotel and hospitality course students are snapped up by the industry.

The deputy director for  FNU’s National Training and Productivity Centre Executive Management and Hospitality Services, Satendra Nair, said the department of hotel and hospitality was very effective in terms of attracting the in-service and pre-service students as the job was guaranteed in the industry.

“In the past three years I have been looking after the division, the hospitality students are basically employed before they graduate.

“The market demand is so high in terms of employability,” Mr Nair said.

Mr Nair said the growth of the tourism market was increasing the demand of the service delivery sector which was excelling.

For the past two or three years, Mr Nair said his team had studied the market.

“We have done a very strong survey and we have developed new programmes, revised the old programmes and also brought in franchise programmes from Western Sydney TAFE,” he said.

“So it caters for all the market which is our small markets of backpackers, the recreation and eco-tourism area and also to the five star levels whereby they want programmes in the area of accreditation.”

Mr Nair said getting associated with international institutes turned in positive results and developments including working with landowners in certain areas.

Meanwhile, the director and chief executive officer of FIT College in Australia Mark Stitt said he was glad that the department scored 100 per cent employment rate as a result of traditional methods of teaching, face-to-face and not just online.

Mr Stitt was also part of the FNU National Trainers Conference at Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi yesterday organised by the National Training Productivity Centre (NTPC).

He said: “We found that globally too many educational institutions are pure online platform, turning out graduating students who have no longevity in their career because they are not Industry ready.”

EDITED BY FILIPE NAIGULEVU

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