Downturn will not put us off food

www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au

Despite slowing consumer spending the future still looks bright for hospitality and tourism students, as Australians look for new ways to treat themselves to life’s little luxuries, says William Blue College of Hospitality and Tourism.

The comment comes amid a predicted fall in Australian tourism and the recent drop in the Australian dollar. William Blue College says that while job prospects may be on the decline, the demand for hospitality will be sustained as the summer holiday season approaches.

“As consumers, Australians are creatures of comfort with a taste for the finer things in life. Even in an economic downturn, people still need to eat, sleep and be entertained,” says Jenny Jenkins, William Blue head of college.

“It’s about being smarter when it comes to making your dollar go further. Consumers are now looking at how they can continue to be entertained and enjoy top dining experiences that don’t break the budget. William Blue’s own training restaurant, Billy Blue Brassiere, has experienced a significant upturn in patrons over the last few months and recently won the 2008 Training Restaurant of the Year Award,” she says.

Interestingly, Jenkins predicts the wedding and event planning sector will continue to grow, following a record 116,000 weddings in 2007 – its highest level since 1990.

Jenkins also expects domestic tourism to see a significant boost over the holiday period, as the falling dollar encourages Australians to travel domestically.

She suggests that those pursuing a career in the hospitality and tourism industry, which employs over one million Australians, need to ensure that their skills, experience and qualifications are up-to-par in an increasingly competitive market.

According to Jenkins, hospitality is now a real career path that gives individuals the opportunity to contribute to an organisation’s overall business performance and bottom-line.

“Businesses are becoming increasingly choosey about the type of people they take on board.

Rather than employing people with no experience because they are under-staffed, employers are looking to highly-trained candidates who are multi-skilled and understand all the facets of the business.

“The more experience and qualifications a graduate has, the more valuable they are to an employer. In times of downturn people should look to up-skill and further their education to secure their careers and ensure they are less expendable,” says Jenkins.