Graduates from the Middle Management Development Program pose with the deputy director of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Brigadier General Aye Myint Kyu. Pic: Lwin Maung Maung

A CEREMONY was held at Central Hotel in Yangon last week to honour the first graduates of the Myanmar Hotelier Association’s Middle Management Development Program aimed at producing skilled hotel managers.

Forty-one trainees completed the inaugural four-week course, which covered hotel operation management, administrative management, financial administration, human resources, resource management, security services, customer services and sales, and English-language proficiency.

Dr Khin Shwe, the chairman of the association, told the graduates at the August 19 ceremony that they must now apply what they had learnt in the course to their jobs in the hotel industry.

“In the classroom we say a student passes with distinction of they score at least 75 out of 100. But in the workplace the standards are much higher and we can speak of success only if someone works at 100 percent capacity. If they score only 99 they need to try harder,” he said.

He said providing good service at hotels was key to attracting foreign tourists to Myanmar.

“Hotel service represents the whole country to visitors, many of whom have stayed at high-class hotels around the world. Their perceptions of the country often depend on the service they receive at hotels,” Dr Khin Shwe said.

Many of the trainees said the course was a worthwhile experience.
“I understand more about the important role that skilled managers in running hotels after taking this course,” said one graduating student who works in a hotel in Shan State.

Ma Pwint, a graduate who works as a sales and marketing executive at a local hotel, said the program had enhanced her knowledge of the hotel industry.
“I had never taken a proper course in hotel management. The subjects were familiar to me from my work experience but I learnt how to be smarter and more skilled at my job,” she said.

She said such courses were particularly useful for people who had just started working in the hotel sector.

“When I started working at a hotel five years ago I had trouble getting promoted. In Myanmar we have a tradition of paying respect to our elders. It’s a good tradition but it sometimes prevents younger people who are well-qualified from getting the promotions they deserve,” Ma Pwint said.

“Training programs like this one help produce qualified staff so people who run hotels can focus on filling positions based on skill rather than rank,” she said.

The next Middle Management Development Program course run by the Myanmar Hotelier Association will start on August 26 at Yuzana Hotel in Bahan township, Yangon.