A stalwart in the hospitality industry who, with that glint in his eyes, knows just the right thing to say always – Dilip Puri, is one of the most inspiring and knowledgeable persons I have had the fortune of interviewing. A staunch believer in giving back to the industry that gave him recognition, he is one of the few versatile personalities, who has gone beyond the role of an empowered corporate to address the gnawing issues facing the business today – skilled manpower churned out of a reputed hospitality institute. Thus was born Indian School of Hospitality (ISH), which has not just raised the bar in hospitality education and training but has also opened up the field for numerous youngsters who were on a lookout for a hands-on hospitality education module. I was lucky to be shown around the institute by his enthusiastic team, who share his passion for the project and enjoy a hot cup of coffee with the man running the show. Here’s our story on ISH in BOTT Spotlight.
Priyanka Saxena Ray
When did the Idea of floating an Institute like this crop up in your mind?
The initial idea for setting up Indian School of Hospitality (ISH) came when I admitted my younger son to Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne in 2013. That’s when I realised that in India, we have hotels that are known around the world and a rapidly growing service industry, but we do not have a matching standard of hospitality education. Spotting the gap, I decided to venture into creating a world class hospitality education enterprise. The opportunity to set up ISH has also given me the chance to pursue my passion for teaching, and to finally give back to an industry that has given me so much over the span of my career.
Was the acquisition of the Starwood Hotels by the Marriott Group the deciding factor for you to leave active hospitality industry and move towards setting up this Institute?
As I said above, the idea for setting up ISH came back in 2013. It became plan B then and I was fortunate to have the blessings and support of my former Starwood CEO, Frits van Passchen to work on the plan. As a corporate professional hotelier for over three decades coming from an armed forces background, it wasn’t easy to take the leap of faith to become an education entrepreneur. The merger in many ways acted as the trigger to take that leap of faith. Perhaps that’s how destiny works. I feel blessed to drive a new passion in the second innings of my career.
How has the response to the Institute been from Industry colleagues as well as student fraternity?
The positive response from industry colleagues, peers and mentors has been overwhelming and truly humbling. I feel like our industry has a sense of camaraderie that is hard to find anywhere else. I’ve had tremendous support from industry peers from day one of the vision – and have had their guidance and counsel throughout, making this journey possible.
If you just look at our Advisory Council, Founder Investors or Board of Directors – it’s amazing to see how many industry leaders came together to support our vision of ISH – an institute which aims to change the landscape of hospitality education.
You pride in calling the ISH a ‘Premium Institute’. Do you feel students, who would pay such a high amount as fees would be willing to work in housekeeping, front desk, and other not so glamorous profiles at the hotel? Is that something you will be teaching them at the Institute?
The Indian School of Hospitality strives and prides itself on providing an international standard of education within India. Our curriculum is tailor-made in partnership with Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne – the world’s oldest and highest standing hospitality institute globally. Within this curriculum – housekeeping, front desk, f&b service and other service based activities – are all essential pieces of the overall hospitality puzzle and teach crucial skills to our students. In order to thrive in the experiential economy, it’s vital to understand what goes into making that experience – and it’s something every aspiring hospitality student needs to master if they want to flourish in the industry.
What are the areas, you feel, need special focus in training a hospitality professional and how are you aiming to tackle these shortcoming?
One gap in our higher education institutions in India is that they expect to prepare students for the challenges and changes of the society by teaching them with material that was created by, and for, yesteryear’s world. Hospitality and travel and tourism are, without a doubt, some of the most fast-paced and constantly evolving fields today. Fuelled by technology and strongly influenced by new customer expectations and behaviours derived by the spread of social media and the way we share our lives with each other, capturing an accurate snapshot of hospitality and its expected challenges is near impossible. Instead of placing all focus on written, static material, future leaders are prepared by learning from the experience and direction of the ones of today.
With Indian School of Hospitality, we want to disrupt hospitality education by redefining and reimagining the way education is delivered. By implementing up to date and relevant teaching techniques, and by creating a future-conscious curriculum, we want to create an educational experience that’s not just for today, but can stand up to tomorrow’s challenges as well. Our entire philosophy at ISH is to provide students with both the academic and life skills they need to help them succeed throughout their careers and lives. That’s something we’re really focusing on here at ISH – real, relevant and tangible life skills that they can take with them throughout their careers – in whichever industry they choose to pursue.
Please do brief me a little on the existing and upcoming courses at ISH?
We have opened our doors to our first batch of students, and are offering the following programmes – a four year Undergraduate Programme in Hospitality Management, a four year Undergraduate Programme in Culinary Arts. In addition to this, we’re offering an Intensive Culinary Arts Programme that is 1 year long and is designed to give students the freedom to reorient their career towards culinary arts. We have just signed an agreement with At Sunrice Academy Singapore, Asia’s leading culinary school for an 18 month culinary diploma with our students doing 9 months at ISH, 3 months at Sunrice and a six month paid internship in Singapore. Students will also have a pathway to opt for a degree at universities affiliated to Sunrice in Australia, UK or the US. We will shortly be launching this program.
In the near future, we will begin offering postgraduate and executive education programmes, as well as shorter duration culinary arts programmes with a unique focus on entrepreneurship
As an Industry veteran, do you think India has realised its tourism potential? Is there a lack of investment in the tourism sector and its infrastructure? What are your suggestions for the new hotels that are coming up?
India has barely scraped the surface in realising our tourism potential. As we build more accessibility and connectivity within the country, we will be able to unlock the true potential of India as a tourist destination. And this growth will largely be fuelled by domestic tourism. Hotels being developed in urban centric locations will largely be a part of larger mixed use developments and more in the mid scale and upscale segments. Leisure resorts will succeed as they are built in locations with access and connectivity and close to larger source markets.
