S’pore-India tourism training centre launched in ‘Venice of the East’

UDAIPUR (India) — A new centre to train students for India’s growing tourism and hospitality industry was launched on Thursday (Oct 6) in Udaipur by Acting Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. 

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the launch of the Centre of Excellence for Tourism Training (CETT), which was built under an agreement between Singapore and the Rajasthan state government signed last year. This is the Republic’s second skills development initiative in India, after the World Class Skills Centre in New Delhi established in 2012.

The Rajasthan government had invited Singapore’s ITE Education Services (ITEES), the consultancy arm of the Institute of Technical Education, to help upgrade a government training institute in Udaipur into a model institute for skills training. Surrounded by lakes, palaces and landscaped gardens, Udaipur is dubbed the “Venice of the East” and sees large numbers of visitors from within India and all over the world. 

Under the agreement, ITEES will offer consultancy services for the development of CETT’s training materials, curriculum and academic structure, and the campus’ design and development. It will also help train the centre’s 36 instructors. 

When classes start next March, the centre will offer six courses — in hospitality operations (front office), housekeeping, travel and tourism services, Western culinary arts, food and beverage services, and retail services — and accommodate up to 480 students a year.

Mr Ong said various state governments in India had recognised the ITE’s vocational expertise and approached the Republic for advice. 

“India is going through a phase where more investments are coming in ... The industry needs vocational skills, and in this aspect, they find it useful to learn from Singaporeans, especially our ITE, with its expertise in training people and upgrading vocational expertise,” he said. 

The Republic has been lending a hand in India’s plan to provide skills training for 400 million Indians by 2022. Two MOUs were signed on Tuesday between ITEES, the Assam government and India’s National Skills Development Corporation.  

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Lee also witnessed the signing of two agreements to boost collaboration in tourism and hospitality, including an MOU between International Enterprise Singapore and the Rajasthan government on tourism and urban solutions. 

The other is a S$700,000 capacity building agreement — supported by Temasek Foundation International and co-funded by Rajasthan’s tourism department — under which Singapore will train about 100 mid-level to senior government officials from the state in tourism mobility planning and destination marketing. Scheduled to kick off next month, the training comprises five sessions in Jaipur and two in Singapore.