Shangri-La’s Hambantota, Tourism Skills Committee launch “Young Tourism Ambassador Initiative”
View(s):The Private Sector Tourism Skills Committee (TSC), in partnership with Shangri-La’s Hambantota Resort and Spa, and the YouLead project (USAID-funded Youth Employability and Business Start-up Programme) launched an exciting tourism internship programme on November 5.
YouLead Young Tourist Ambassadors on the first day of the programme
Designed to familiarise post A/L students from the Hambantota area with the realities of the modern tourism industry, the ‘Young Tourism Ambassador Initiative’, introduced 16 young women and men to the sector via an intensive two-week programme that exposed them to the breadth of career options possible in today’s tourism industry. Individual sessions were led by more than ten different resources from both inside and outside the hotel, YouLead said in a media release.
The youth studied housekeeping and horticulture; they observed how to cook for 300 and how to conserve Sri Lanka’s natural heritage; they learned how to engage a visitor and how to entertain them. Following the successful launch of the initiative in Hambantota the TSC also held a similar event at the Grand Hotel in Nuwara Eliya on November 20 with plans for another at Jetwing Jaffna on December 4.
“The hospitality industry has changed dramatically in the past 20 years, but our youth—and particularly their parents—have never had this kind of opportunity to see the modern tourism industry up close,” tourism consultant Srilal Miththapala was quoted as saying in the release. “The modern industry is broader than most people realise. It’s also more professional, more environmentally aware, better paying, and has great career prospects. I’m delighted that the TSC is taking aim at changing youth perceptions through this unique, innovative programme.”
Chaired by Malik Fernando, Managing Director of Resplendent Ceylon, the TSC is an informal association of 10 private sector tourism leaders from the hotel and travel sector. These leaders came together based on a mutual desire to take action on an issue that endangers the growth of their industry- the lack of youth taking up jobs in tourism. The TSC launched an eight-point plan in June and has proceeded to implement those initiatives one-by-one. Already the group has developed or revised eight vocational curricula to make it more relevant to the needs of the industry, and circulated a short documentary showing the impact of Sri Lankan women in tourism. “There are too many excuses not to move forward,” said Shiromal Cooray, TSC Vice Chair and Managing Director of Jetwing Travels. “We have made commitment to move forward whilst developing their skills,” she noted further.
A participant of the Young Tourist Ambassador Programme in Hambantota, Dumindu Sandaruwan said: “Before this programme, I did not have any experience in the hospitality sector, nor did I realise how much tourism has expanded in my region. I gained a lot of new knowledge and I am eager to share it with my friends. We are grateful to the Tourism Skills Committee and Shangri-La Hotel for giving us Hambantota youth a valuable learning opportunity in our distant corner of the country.”
The members of the TSC include Malik J. Fernando, Ms. Shiromal Cooray, Ms. Angeline Ondaatjie, Jayantissa Kehelpannala, Sanath Ukwatte, Chamin Wickramasinghe, Dileep Mudadeniya, Timothy Wright, Steven Braide-Miles, and Preshan Dissanayake. Ex-officio members included nominees from the Ceylon Chamber and other state-related organisations.