New Delhi: Even as the global hospitality industry continues to expand, women leaders have a "big place" in its leadership, as "they bring in different perspectives", says Sonia Tatar, a top official of a Swiss hospitality and tourism management school.
"Women always have the people side which they bring in addition. For me, men and women have their place in hospitality, they both can lead. Diversity is needed in any business, especially hospitality, which is a global business," Tatar, CEO-worldwide, Les Roches International School for Hotel Management, said in an interview.
Heading one of the leading global hospitality schools, Tatar says her role is "to make sure that we are aligned and ahead of the industry and that we offer education to prepare leaders that the industry is looking for".
As far as India is concerned, Tatar said it is the "second market" for Les Roches.
"The Indian market and hospitality are booming. Currently we do not have any institute in India. However, we are looking at the opportunity out here. We see there is a potential and a huge market because of the boom in the hospitality. There is potential, we are exploring and we will see in future," she said.
"We have nine percent students who are from India," she added.
Highlighting the need to dispel traditional notions on hospitality, Tatar said educators need to talk more about how the industry is expanding.
"Traditionally when people look at hospitality, they look at two things: either you work in a hotel or a restaurant. When you talk about hospitality, they only look at you serving or you welcoming guests. We as educators, we should be talking more about how hospitality is expanding. It is about events, luxury retails," she said.
She also mentioned that there is a need to change the perception about the hospitality industry.
"We need to educate the world and the industry needs to educate that how it is different than before. There are many talk shows that are coming on TV. So, it changed the perception and it is changing as we go along, but we have still a long way to go," she added.
