KENYA UTALII COLLEGE GRADUATES ARE READY FOR POST COVID-19 ERA

The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way the hospitality and tourism industry operates. In what has come to be known as the new normal, the deadly virus has challenged the conventional operational approaches to guest service. A drastically changed environment calls for more innovation from service personnel. From touchless technologies, cashless transactions, and takeaway food services, hospitality, and tourism practitioners must learn new methods of service guests or they will be rendered irrelevant.

Since the new normal requires a new skill set, the changed and sophisticated business environment demands that the personnel undergo training to acquire a new set of skills. Kenya Utalii College is the premier hospitality and tourism training institution that should tap into immense training opportunities presented by the challenging business environment. The Colleges dynamic programmes prepare the students for fast changing world of work being shaped being by Covid-19.

First, the college housekeeping and laundry programs has hygiene and sanitation as a core aspect with issues of hygiene have taken the center stage in this era of Covid-19, housekeeping graduates will meet high guest expectations of high of hygiene, cleanliness, and sanitation. Guest areas must not just be clean but free from pathogens.

Secondly, food safety and hygiene training is a must for food handlers, especially chefs. It is now a mandatory requirement that all culinary experts are Hazard Critical Control Points (HACCP) compliant. Food is served at certain temperatures; hot food is served hot while cold food is served chilled to avoid food poisoning. Food Production course offered by the institution has Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) as integral part of the training.

Third, Front Office personnel are facing unique challenges operating in a highly digital environment. Students taking front office operations and Hotel Management courses take hotel information systems as a package. The hotel information system in addition to computer skills prepares them to work in a digital space. The rest of the students are also equipped with computer skills to enable them adjust to the digital work environment.

Fourth, Food and Beverage service, Hotel Management, Front Office and Food production students are exposed to various computer applications the most common being Point of Sale (POS). Since the students are supposed to work in a work space with integrated technologies, the knowledge of POS becomes very critical. Hospitality and tourism industry has shifted to touchless technologies to curb the spread of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

Lastly, Tourism students consisting of Tourism Travel Management (TTM), Tour Guiding and Administration and Tour Operations courses undergo intensive training in programs such as Galileo, Granit, and Amadeus among others which gives them an edge in the digital world. As a result of this intensive training our graduates have an edge in adjusting to the new normal. In addition to digital skills our graduates have the essential soft skills critical to the service sector, thus their output and employability in the post COVID-19 era.

 Benard Amaya,

Lecturer, Kenya Utalii College