2018 will be a key year for Southwestern University (SWU) PHINMA’s Hospitality Management (HM) program as they will soon open their newly redeveloped program in June 2018.
In partnership with internationally-acclaimed Singapore-based hospitality management academe School D’Hospitality (SDH) Institute, SWU is eyeing to produce internationally competent HM graduates in the future.
“Currently, we are the only school who has an international partnership with a school that is recognized in Singapore and other parts of the world,” said SWU HM Program head Steven Sasam.
“We developed the SDH program with the mindset of being able to offer, not just our students in Singapore but also our partners, an internationally-recognized qualification,” said SDH Institute Senior Lecturer Barry Hayes.
Hayes emphasized his concern on how a lot of hospitality graduates in the Philippines who want to work abroad struggle because their qualifications are not internationally recognized.
“They still have to go overseas, spend more money, spend another year, just upgrading to international standards before they could apply for jobs in other countries,” Hayes continued.
“Cebu is one of the best-known places in the Philippines for tourism, so where else to actually have the ideal program for hospitality program but in Cebu,” Hayes added as he highlighted on how SDH did not think twice in grabbing the opportunity to partner with SWU.
As part of their preparation for the official opening of the program in June, SWU organized events including the forum Understanding World Class Hospitality last February 24 at Radisson Blu Cebu. Hospitality personalities Radisson Blu Resident Manager Gabor Bors, Canvas Bistro and Circa 1900 proprietors Steve Shrimski and Eya Shrimski, and SDH’s Barry Hayes graced the forum as speakers.
The initiatives for the program development are part of the university’s movement SWU Next: More than just Medicine where they promote and develop their non-medicine programs.
