Hospitality sector Malaysian hotels eye Cebu students
With Asean integration happening next year, Malaysian hoteliers are keen on tapping Cebu’s manpower pool in the hospitality sector by offering schools here with a four to six month on-the-job (OJT) program in Malaysia for students.
Representatives from the Malaysian Association of Hotels Training and Education Center, (Mahtec) which represents over 700 three-star and above hotels in Malaysia, visited at least 10 colleges and universities in Cebu to explore partnership opportunities with them.
They have made the rounds in academic institutions here including University of San Carlos, University of Southern Philippines-Foundation, University of Cebu, University of San Jose-Recoletos, among others to offer their country’s internship program for tourism and hospitality students here, said Sahak Ahmad, Mahtec general manager, in an interview last Friday.
“This is one of the initiatives by Malaysian hotels to prepare for the free-flow of manpower movement as soon as the Asean integration next year will be formalized,” he said.
PROGRAM PACKAGE
Under the program, the schools will offer OJTs in Malaysia in partnership with Mahtec.
The program packages cost about US$2,000. It will include transfers as well as board and lodging of students.
The internship program will be managed by AXSEL Management International SDn Bhd and will ensure that students will get allowances of at least US$300 to US$500 a month from their assigned hotels.
Ahmad said that they are targeting to register at least 150 to 200 hospitality students in Cebu under the program.
He said that there is a high possibility that the students may be absorbed by the hotels after the program.
“We are also offering the same program to other countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Laos.
Malaysia, with their tagline, “Truly Asia”, aims to have 25 million tourist arrivals this year and expects to have 50 more new hotels which will be classified as four- to five-star hotels in the next five years.
Ahmad said that at present, there are over 40,000 foreign workers in Malaysia’s hospitality industry. Majority of these workers are from Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Philippines.
PINOY SKILLS
Hotels in Malaysia have recognized the Filipinos’ exemplary skills in the hospitality industry, said Sajeeb Vidyasagaran, AXSEL director for marketing.
Vidyasagaran said Filipinos are known to be naturally warm people and are fluent in English and are well-trained hospitality professionals.
He said that Malaysia’s hospitality industry now requires nearly two personnel for every one hotel room or a ratio of 0.8 to 1 room.
“With over 200,000 rooms, excluding the 4,000 budget hotel accommodations, the industry employs roughly over 400,000 hospitality workers,” he said.
In Cebu, Mahtec is partnering with Selrahco Management and Consultancy Services headed by Charles Lim.
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