Putrajaya, 28 Aug, 2012 - Efforts to improve the quality of Malaysia's tourism and hospitality industry workforce have been boosted by a university–industry initiative led by UCSI University, said Higher Education Minister Dato' Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

The positive development, he said, is attributed to the efforts of the Malaysian Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Education – better known by its acronym MyCenTHE – that has partnered with key players in the hotel industry to revamp the tourism and hospitality sector through education.

Key players such as Pullman Hotel, E&O Hotel, Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Hardrock Hotel and Grand Margherita Hotel, among others, have partnered with MyCenTHE and the tie-up provides students with stipends and extensive workplace exposure over the course of a two-year diploma.

"For the very first time in Malaysia's history, industry players are supporting work-based learning by providing allowance amounting to RM6,000 per year which translates to about RM500 allowance a month, financing up to 80% of MyCenTHE's programmes," he said in the press conference after MyCenTHE's first anniversary celebration at the Marriott Putrajaya Hotel.

"All graduates are also guaranteed full-time employment with the industrial partners, subject to availability, and this assurance provides students with a viable option to traditional academic routes.

"We (at the ministry) are happy that UCSI University has taken the initiative to lead change with other players in the private sector to champion the national agenda."

Adding that the tourism and hospitality sector was the fifth largest contributor to the Malaysian economy, Mohamed Khaled said that the industry had to be staffed by quality personnel and MyCenTHE was established to achieve this.

"Currently, only 16% of all industry personnel possess a diploma or a degree," he said. "The long term target is to bring the percentage to 50% through traditional education or upskilling exercises and we (the ministry) are confident this can be achieved with MyCenTHE's progress and work-based learning curriculum."

"The tourism industry is Malaysia's second highest export earning industry and its rapid growth must be matched by a proportional increase in the human resource pool. Thanks to MyCenTHE a career in the sector is now attractive, accessible, affordable and assured."

Led by UCSI University, MyCenTHE – a coalition of Malaysia's leading hotel and tourism schools – is entrusted by the Government to reshape the tourism and hospitality industry through education in Entry Point Project 10 (EPP10) of the of the Education National Key Economic Area (NKEA).

Seeking to build a national tourism and hospitality education cluster in every state, MyCenTHE is targeting a nationwide roll-out of its unique work-based learning curriculum by 2020.

To date, four clusters are operational in Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Penang and Sabah, while another cluster is set to be launched in Johor.

The pioneering clusters are expected to achieve an average of 2,000 students by 2015 and it is estimated that around 50,000 skilled industry personnel will be trained each year by 2020. This is part of the larger plan to train around 500,000 tourism and hospitality specialists in the long run.

To champion the national agenda, MyCenTHE members have agreed to maintain their course fees by 25% to 30% lower than the market value. The National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) has also agreed to provide students with loans amounting to RM16,000 for a two-year diploma programme.

MyCenTHE's progress is overseen by the Higher Education, Tourism and Human Resources ministries.

The celebration was preceded by an international conference involving the who's who in tourism and hospitality education.

Showcasing the best practices of university-academia collaboration in Europe, Asia and the United States, the conference also featured an interactive session involving Tourism Malaysia chairman Datuk Dr Victor Wee and Human Resources Ministry director-general (Skills Development) Dr Pang Chau Leong.

Two books were also launched at the event. The first, title Value Innovation in Tourism Human Capital Development, is written by MyCenTHE president Assoc Prof Dr Wong Kong Yew.

Providing an overview of MyCenTHE and its offerings, the book tracks the milestones of the coalition a year after it was formally launched.

The second, titled Tourism Industrial Development in Eco-destination, is authored by Dr Wong, UCSI Centre of Excellence for Research, Value Innovation and Entrepreneurship director Assoc Prof Dr Alan Keoy Kay Hooi and Assoc Prof Dr Kwek Choon Ling from the Faculty of Business and Information Science.

Introducing the eco-hospitality approach, the book evaluates the perception and readiness of the hotel industry; influencing factors of customer retention in the hotel and resort industry; and the need to create new value curves through Blue Ocean Strategy tools in Sarawak, among others.

UCSI Group founder and chairman Dato' Peter Ng and Dr Wong were present at the celebration.