New hospitality institute in Pune

Pune: The Pride Group of Hotels, in collaboration with the S P Jain Foundation Trust has set up the Pride Institute of Hospitality and Business Management (PIHM) in Pune, to offer education to students opting for hospitality as a career option.

Talking to presspersons, Mr S.P. Jain, Chairman of the Pride Group of Hotels said it would offer career opportunities in hotels, cruise lines, international fast food chains, travel and tourism and multinational companies. It would offer B Sc in Hotel Management and Catering Operations, three-year degree course and is affiliated to the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, recognised by the University Grants Commission.

It would also offer short-term programme Certificate Courses on Food and Beverage services, food and beverage production, front office, house keeping, hotel/restaurant management or catering operation, bakery and confectionery and bartending.

He said that it would also offer 100 per cent placement guarantee in the Pride Group of Hotels and the students could also opt for career options at other locations. The fees would be Rs 60,000 (tuition fees) for the first year and noted that it would be looking at around 60 students per year. He noted that this would be the third chain in the country, Taj and Oberoi, to offer hospitality and management courses to the students.

Asked about the expansion of the Pride Group, Mr Jain said the group, which started in 1999 with one hotel has now six operating hotels and five projects on the pipeline. By 2010, it would have 11 operating hotels with 1,500 rooms. The company also owns biznotel, run by the promoter but marketed and managed by the Pride Group. He saidexpansion of biznotel would happen in Tier 2 cities and by 2020, it has set a target of 30 own hotels and 30 biznotels.

Mr Jain said that the country has about 1.2 lakh rooms against the demand of 2.5 lakh rooms and hence the additional rooms would generate more job opportunities. He added that an estimated 4.6 million tourists are expected to visit the country with an annual average growth rate of 12 per cent over the next few years.