Management Student: Industry Expert Session - Industry Orientation and Corporate Expectation (Mr. Vaibhav Gaur)

INLEAD conducted an Industry Expert Session for its International Hotel Management and Corporate Administration & FacilityManagement students of Jan and July 2012 batches. Topic Of the session was Industry Orientation and Corporate Expectations. The session was conducted by Mr. Vaibhav Gaur, Sales Director – Radisson Suites. Mr. Gaur has done his graduation in Hotel Management from Welcomegroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal. He has started his career as Front Office Executive at Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces. Eventually he shifted from the Front Office Department to the Sales Department of the Hotel and has worked in renowned organizations like Radisson MBD Hotel, Crown Plaza, Galaxy Hotels and Spa. Presently he is the youngest person to reach at Director Sale’s level.

Mr. Gaur has over half a decade of experience in this industry and shared his real time experiences with the students. He started the session with describing different departments of a hotel and how all of them are interdependent on each other in order to provide a hassle free service to the Guest. Mr. Gaur also talked on the grooming standards which are an important aspect to work in the industry and also the right kind of attitude required in the organization, which will eventually help them to grow in this lucrative sector.

The session was quite interactive as students being new to the field were very curious to know more about the industry, what would be the growth path and the corporate expectations as well. The Q&A session helped students to understand the hierarchy that is followed in the Hotels, to have a positive frame of mind while working and most importantly improving your skill set at regular intervals to have an effective growth. On being asked that how various hotel chains are surviving in such a competitive market, to which he said that “Service is the Key”. One has to focus on the high quality service being provided to the customer and because that will in the end help you to uphold the guest for a longer period of time. All in all the session was quite well-informed and it helped the students to understand the insights of the hotel industry and overall what are expectations of the corporate from the budding hoteliers.