Recently the CM while speaking at a seminar on ‘Vocational guidance in Hospitality services’ pointed out that youth from other states were entering into the hospitality sector while the Goans were shying away from it. He further said the reason behind this could be that Goans were not interested in the field or perhaps not really aware of the possibilities .
Various Hotel Management training institutes, all over Goa, had
interesting reactions to this statement. Guardian Institute of Hotel Management
and Catering Technology, Principal Joacquim Rebello said the reason behind
Goans shying away from the hospitality sector could be due to lack of
advancement opportunities “I feel Goans are shying away because they are not
getting proper opportunities for their growth, and because they shy away,
others end up taking advantage” he said. On being asked about the kind of
opportunities Goans aren’t getting, he elaborated, “By opportunities, I mean,
when it comes to whatever incentives, especially in the technical field, they
are not getting enough opportunities to grow”. He goes on to say that it has
become very expensive to pay for fees in Goa and some people aren’t able to
maintain a decent standard of living. However, the reality on the ground was
slightly different. Several Goans turn up for the admissions . “Nonetheless
there are a lot of takers as far as our admissions are concerned, we are
basically for Goan students, and we see the admissions are full, actually 99%
of all students are Goans in our institute. There are many non-Goans wanting to
come here, infact today itself there were two boys, one from Honnavar and the
other from Hubli, but we were not able to give them admissions because we give
the first preference to Goans, if there are vacancies at the end of the third
round, then we allow students from other states, last year we allowed only one
person from Karnataka” The Goa College of Hospitality and Culinary Education,
Panaji, disagreed with the statement saying that Goans don’t really shy away as
they get admissions from Goan students most of the time. However, Sunit Roy,
Enviroskills Academy said, he disagreed with the statement. He said youth from
other states were coming in but he goes on to say, “In my opinion, when it
comes to Goans, I believe they are more into ‘susegad’, it is just like being
in Agra and seeing the Taj Mahal, Goans feel that they are the people who have
access to the hotel and the customers at any given point of time, so the
importance of the hotels present in Goa are not very predominant in their
minds.”Gesto Culinary & Hospitality Academy, Porvorim also disagrees with
the statement above, but declared however, that that there are opportunities
available, but Goan youth do not want to avail of them. “Goan youth do not want
to take up hospitality, there are opportunities, but they are not taking it up,
so slots get filled with outsiders. It may be because Goan youth want to
venture into other fields but mostly because they do not want to start from
scratch, they just want high positions, they do not want to start with the
basic work. It’s not because they are not interested, it’s because they do not
want to work, and that’s their attitude”.
Rayzel
D’Cruz, Sales and Marketing IIHM Institute, Nuvem Goa replied in the
affirmative stating, “Yes, the Goan youth are shying away because of various
reasons. They do not get the right salary for the type of education they have
done. Secondly, they also do not get the right job they are interested in
because most of the time the government caters to most of the outsiders”. She
further goes on to mention that when it comes to the hospitality sector in Goa,
they are made to work overtime in many cases, and are not paid for it. “The
hospitality industry is a booming industry and provides a range of job
opportunities but what can our Goan Youth do when they are made to struggle to
earn a living?” she commented. Whether you may agree or disagree, the fact
remains the same that the Goan Hospitality sector is booming with
opportunities, all the students need to possess is a right attitude towards
learning.