The School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events (SHTE) held an exclusive event entitled the "GM Roundtable Online Forum: 🔴STOP. 🟡LOOK. 🟢GO!" for the Master in International Hospitality Management (MIHM) programme students. The hospitality roundtable focused on taking stock of the current situation and planning for the future. A mix of senior hospitality experts graced this event and shared their views on the current and future trends. SHTE was privileged to have Mr. Bipan Kapur, General Manager from Renaissance Kuala Lumpur whose one key advice was to “commoditise your skills and passion”. He predicts a shortage in human resource as the pandemic situation recovers and assures that Marriott is still focused on expansion.
Mr. Alex Porteous, General Manager, Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur asserted that “a masters prepares you for the future” and the hotel business model needs to be more resilient and responsive. He encouraged the students to “Be Curious! Be Friendly! Be Objective! Be Patient! Be Flexible! Be Agile!”. Mr. Mohamed Solah, Cluster General Manager, Zaya Hospitality, Dubai, an alumna of the Bachelor (Hons) Hospitality and Tourism Studies, class of 2009 was also the invited guests who spoke on Zaya.
Since its opening, his luxury property is running at 90% occupancy and looking forward to more hotel openings. He affirms that there are future opportunities for master graduates depending on “how much you want to invest in yourself?”. MIHM students discussed the idea of the new women-only hotel business venture with the speakers along with the necessary physiology and mental skills needed in this pandemic situation as well the availability of government assistance to help the hospitality industry to weather this storm.
