People form the backbone of any company or organization, no matter how simple or multifaceted any business entity might sound. Human Resource Management is undoubtedly an all-important entity towards the betterment of any country’s economy. Without its people, no business or enterprise would ever function successfully. With today’s tech infused day and age, there is potential for robots to take over labour to some extent, but one thing is clear, for success to ensue, a human touch is undoubtedly indispensable.
At the recent Human Capital Summit which took place at the Taj Samudra for the first time in the country, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, who graced the event, delivered a talk with highlight on the topic ‘Sri Lanka as a Talent Capital’. He reiterated the need to further develop and enhance three major entities affecting the economy in Sri Lanka; water, energy and human resource. The human resource angle is currently a major issue especially in the hospitality sector. The Prime Minister also emphasized the need to strategize accordingly with the aim of enticing our Sri Lankan expats abroad, to come back to the country.
As it is no common knowledge today that over Sri Lankans are working in many fields outside of sri Lanka, the country needs to strategize accordingly and form a basis where we will be able to entice Sri Lankan’s abroad to come back to the country.
With these points in mind and even before the summit was scheduled to take place, a group of tourism and hospitality experts had got together to form the International Tourism Volunteers Association of Sri Lanka (ITVA). The aim of this body is to put forth an educational platform for individuals from rural backgrounds with a helping hand and the right exposure on how to become better hosts and further bring beneficial change into their livelihoods. This might entail mainly dealing with small scale businesses such as homestay owners for example. But, not only will small enterprises get to benefit from this scheme as any other tourism related establishment seeking out a platform of awareness can approach ITVA and gain firsthand knowledge from veterans in the field who will take time to come forth and lend in their knowhow and expertise when it comes to hospitality.
Amongst the members involved in initiating this association is one of Sri Lanka’s best assets in the field of tourism and hospitality and who is also being noted as the world’s best trainer in his field, Dilip Francis De Silva and currently attached to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Along with him is Ajit De Silva who is the CEO for Direct Food Ltd. based in Bangladesh, Senior Vice President for Aitken Spence Hotels, Gemunu Goonewardene, the brains behind Kandalama Hotel in Dambulla, Malinda Ratnayake who also happens to be the Vice President of the very first 5 star resort to have been setup in Ahungalla and U. C. Jayasinghe who is a Former Director of Aitken Spence. These gentlemen were hoteliers who were instrumental in instigating and evolving the concept of tourism in villages.
Other founding members also include an advisory committee based in Australia and comprises of Rohan De Silva Jayasundera and Rohan Dias Abeysinghe. The Chief Coordinator for ITVA is Former Human Resource Director for Aitken Spence, Amal Nanayakkara.
As youth today aspire to secure jobs within the formal sectors, this approach through ITVA would only help pave way for young people who can embrace the possibility of the hospitality sector as a future career option. The group of chief volunteers for ITVA comprises of former experts and veterans from the tourism sector in Sri Lanka and abroad.
Commenting on his stance with ITVA, Goonewardene disclosed, “Entrepreneurs who run establishments such as homestays tend to lack in technicality and we merely hope to establish a platform which will help small entrepreneurships to understand tourism as a whole and how to be the best host out there.” The revered members of ITVA do not look at remolding but to work ahead to fill the gaps in the industry.
There is a major gap in the tourism industry in Sri Lanka currently, even though tourism figures are up and there is evident change in terms of infrastructure, even though there is room for improvement. The Y Generation will receive an opportunity to widen their horizons if they seek out any programme that would be initiated through the volunteers who would be more than happy to travel to any part of the country and pass on their insight to those who have the interest and the enthusiasm to learn.
“The aim is not to change them or their perspective but to provide them with that exposure and skills to better their livelihoods further whilst becoming competent enough to host tourists more confidently and in a way that would not only benefit their household alone but also their community as a whole,” De Silva said. What the volunteers have in mind is to commence from the base of the informal segment in the hospitality industry and that focus would fall upon the homestay segment.
Whether we hope to enchant more travellers to visit Sri Lanka through luxury packages, the point is that even the homestay segment is a crucial part of this cycle that tourists tend to get attracted to very eagerly as this concept helps give them a better and straightforward understanding of the way humble Sri Lankans live.
ITVA’s approach would center on a cost-sharing basis where this association would not look to profit from any memberships and any funds generated would go back into the organization and help fund scholarships for youth towards a career in tourism and hospitality. Of course, the volunteers would engage in seminars and workshops depending on the demand and how much a community is willing to embrace experienced know-how from veterans in the field.
Caption: Former students of the Ceylon Hotel School standing in front of a Ballroom Venue at the Tj Samudra premises which used to house the former school during the 70s. (From left) Ajit De Silva, Gemunu Goonewardene, Francis Dilip De Silva and Amal Nanayakkara