The NCFD has established a productive cooperation on the levels of the tourist industry, the state and the educational community, said Sander Allegro, Director of the Relations Department of the Hague Hospitality Business School, during his official visit to the North Caucasus Federal University. A working meeting to discuss possibilities of cooperation in the framework of the establishment of the educational institution “School of Caucasian Hospitality” was held in Pyatigorsk with the participation of Dmitry Sumsky, NCFU First Pro-Rector, and Svyatoslav Vilk, Deputy Director General of NCR OJSC.

“We believe that such close cooperation of the tourist business and the educational environment is very important for the successful development of the industry. Because a resort is not only the infrastructure - hotels, slopes, lifts. It is, first and foremost, hospitality, created by humans,” said Sander Allegro. Talking about the features of the educational process in the Hague Hospitality Business School, he stressed its practice-oriented approach to teaching students and attention to the formation of business skills and competencies in the field of hospitality.

In his turn, Dmitry Sumskoy, the First Pro-Rector of the North caucasus Federal University, informed foreign colleagues about the work of the University on a similar scheme in training for the dynamically developing tourism industry in the North Caucasus. “The strategic partner of our University in this field is NCR OJSC, which we work closely with. We have two sites training specialists in tourism and service - in Pyatigorsk and Stavropol,” he said, stressing that the University Faculty takes regular training in the leading schools of tourism and hospitality industry in Europe, including the Hague Hospitality Business School. Dmitry Sumskoy noted that the University’s project for personnel training for the North Caucasus tourism cluster is the only project from Russia presented at the World Tourism Forum in Lucerne (World Tourism Forum 2015).

Further to the point of the cooperation with the best foreign educational institutions for training of future professionals to work at enterprises of tourism and recreation, Svyatoslav Vilk, Deputy Director General of NCR OJSC, noted that, without the use of international practices, one cannot achieve a high level of service quality. “We stick to this rule both in the framework of the personnel training for the tourism cluster, together with NCFU, and at the stage of designing the resorts these professionals will work at,” stressed the representative of NCR OJSC. In his speech he talked about the dynamics of implementation of the project, noting the investors’ interest to attract skilled labor to the resorts.

Svyatoslav Vilk told the representatives of the Hague Hospitality Business School about the training and educational project “School of Caucasian Hospitality” implemented jointly by NCFU and NCR OJSC in the regions of construction of the new all-season resorts. He said that the “Lessons of Caucasian Hospitality” have already attracted over a thousand of high school students, and the results of their questioning show the increased interest in tourism jobs. The second phase of the project should be the establishment of the educational institution “School of Caucasian Hospitality”, perhaps on the basis of the Institute of service, tourism and design of NCFU. The guests from the Hague Hospitality Business School expressed their interest in this project and reaffirmed their willingness to assist the Russian partners in the preparation of educational programmes.

Following the results of the working meeting in NCFU, the parties reached an agreement on elaboration of cooperation mechanisms in the process of creating the “School of Caucasian Hospitality” and noted the possibility of signing a relevant agreement in the framework of the International Investment Forum Sochi-2015.
The representatives of the Hague Hospitality Business School will stay in the NCFD a few days and visit the educational platforms of NCFU in Pyatigorsk and Stavropol, and then they will visit Arkhyz ATRC in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

Reference
The Hague Hospitality Business School (Hotelschool The Hague) was established in 1929 and gained international recognition as a leading educational institution specializing in training in hospitality management. At the moment, there are 2200 students of 54 nationalities studying at the school. The partners of the institution are such well-known international chains as Sheraton, Starwoods, Hilton and others.

“School of Caucasian Hospitality” is the training and educational project carried out by North Caucasus Resorts OJSC with the support of the North Caucasus Federal University in the 7-11 grades of schools located in close proximity to the areas of construction of the all-season resorts. The aim of the project is to increase awareness among schoolchildren of the NCFD constituent entities about the development of the tourism industry, popularisation of the project of tourism cluster in the Northern Caucasus, increasing the attractiveness of the specialized education and employment in tourism. The second phase of the project includes the creation of the educational institution “School of Caucasian Hospitality” for training of secondary and higher professional education tailored to the needs of NCR OJSC and the investors, in accordance with the best international standards in the hospitality industry, as well as the national peculiarities and traditions of the peoples of the North Caucasus.