ASIA – The Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives has launched a programme to groom Maldivians for hotel and resort management.
The hotel will be providing training in Thailand and Switzerland to selected personnel who will continue to receive full pay and benefits during their studies.
The programme is operated by Centara Hotels & Resorts of Thailand.
Included in the training are five months in Thailand, initially theoretical training at Dhurakij Pundit University, followed by real-time management training at selected properties of Centara Hotels & Resorts, and then seven months in Switzerland with Swiss College of Hospitality Management Lenk.
Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives opened in 2009, as Centara’s first Maldives venture. Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives will open in March 2013, and a third resort is currently under construction.
Centara’s Area Director of Human Resources for Maldives, Mohamed Solih Didi, says the aim is to train the next generation of managers to lead the resorts.“This is a completely new programme for us,” he says. “We want to open new opportunities for Maldivians working in our resorts and to offer them satisfying and rewarding careers in the hospitality industry. This is just the beginning of what will be a continuing programme over the years.”
The first student to be selected under the programme is Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa’s Assistant Manager of Food and Beverage, Ahmed Husnee, who was chosen from a total of four candidates who applied for the scholarship.
“I joined Centara due to the number of career development opportunities available here,” says Husnee. “That was three years ago, and I joined as a waiter. I have progressed from that into management, and now I really have a wonderful opportunity to enhance my career.
“After completing this programme I hope to become a senior manager and my ambition is to become a general manager in the future.”
Centara Maldives also runs an apprenticeship programme in conjunction with the Institute of Management Studies. The apprenticeship programme is conducted according to the syllabus of the Maldives National University’s Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Studies.
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