Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School says it has witnessed a significant spike in interest and uptake of its short industry courses by furloughed workers seeking to upskill in anticipation of the upcoming COVID-19 recovery.
Since the lockdown took hold in mid-March, the institution says it has seen more than 1,700 new enrolments with Torrens University Australia, of which it is now part. In this time, more than 2,300 hours of online learning has been completed, with the most popular courses being ‘Negotiation’, ‘Having Difficult Conversations’ and ‘Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Styles’.
“Beyond these, BMIHMS also recommends ‘Building You Leadership Brand’, ‘Communicating Though Organisational Change’, ‘Creating Effective Teams’, ‘Design Thinking’ and several other hospitality-specific courses,” said BMIHMS Director of Innovation, Industry & Employability, Associate Professor Justin Pierce.
Short courses available through BMIHMS are able to be bundled and applied as credit as a stepping stone towards a Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Master of Business Administration in International Hotel Leadership. Nearly four-dozen certifications are available, with more on the way in new fields of learning including Crisis Management.
The e-learning uptake comes with the support of Tourism Accommodation Australia, which itself is supporting the efforts of hotel industry workers participating in online development study to both improve their job prospects and maintain their wellbeing during the downturn.
The advocacy body is working closely with The Hotel School offering its six-week transition program free of charge for industry professionals seeking to return to learning. Special rates for students to upskill on Opera, the industry’s most widely-used Property Management System, are also available. At the same time, TAA is also advocating the services of William Angliss College, which has reduced rates on its Licensee Training and Advancing Licensee Training courses to prepare managers for new operational procedures which will likely come into practice post-pandemic.
TAA National CEO, Michael Johnson, said the industry’s hardworking hotel staff are going to play a key role in the sector’s recovery when it comes.
“We want to do all we can to ensure staff have the chance to upskill if they choose to do so during this difficult time.
“Working together, we are able to give our many hotel employees and managers some mental support, stimulation and purpose as we await the relaxing of current travel restrictions allowing us to return to doing what we do best,” Johnson added.
Another sub-sector of the hotel industry encouraging workers to brush up their skills is Revenue Management, with a variety of e-learning courses recently launched by ARMA via its new eSkillsHUB system.
BMIHMS General Manager, Jerome Casteigt, said in the organisation’s three decades so far, the hotel industry had been very good to it.
“Our hope is that despite the difficult decisions many have been forced to make, displaced industry people can focus on sharpening their skills, in readiness for a return to normal operation, even stronger than before.”
As a special exclusive bonus for HM readers, visit https://bluemountains.torrensonline.com/ to learn more about the suite of BMIHMS short courses available and use code “TUABMHMM2020” to gain free access to the courses.