(from left to right) Madam Lu Huong Ying, Chief Operating Officer, Sarawak Campus; Assoc. Prof. Dr Wong Kong Yew, UCSI University Vice President, Industry and Strategic Projects, Datu Ik Pahon, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Heritage; Mr.

Kuching, 28 April, 2011 - UCSI University hits the nail on the head once again in boosting its image as a leading hospitality and tourism education provider in Malaysia. As the selected institution to spearhead the government‘s development initiative and direction for the nation under education, UCSI University is launching its Diploma in Hotel Management work-based learning modules this coming May 2011 semester in line with becoming a Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Education. 

In living up to its status as a work-based learning programme, the University signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Grand Margherita and Riverside Majestic, both of which are locally set up hotels run by the Sarawak Economic Develoment Corporation (SEDC). The partnership will see the University’s diploma students undergo a total of 10 months training with the hotel of their preference; ensuring students are equipped with only the best artillery for the industry when they face the real working world. 

Grand Margherita and Riverside Majestic have both undergone major makeovers last year; Grand Margherita’s policy focuses on family leisure and comfort, while Riverside Majestic is a business hotel. Upon completion of last year’s makeovers, the hotels held “The Ultimate Tagline Challenge” and invited teams of students from institutions all over Kuching to participate – the UCSI University team emerged champion. 

This partnership was made to further secure UCSI University’s pledge in leading the Entry Point Project 10 (EPP 10), which is a pilot project under the “Education” National Key Economic Area (NKEA) to improve the country’s tourism industry via improved education systems and modules. This would in turn trigger the move to turn Malaysia into a high-income nation, as well as produce a large number of highly educated and skilled workers for the hospitality and tourism industry in Malaysia. The EPP 10 is one of 132 projects that the Malaysian government has endorsed to radically develop the nation by 2020. 

The EPP 10 Independent Management Team (IMT) is chaired by Associate Professor Dr. Wong Kong Yew, the main driver for the EPP 10 hospitality and tourism cluster model. Other members of the IMT include top figures from the tourism and hospitality industry, education leaders, and relevant government bodies to boost the team’s influence and further drive the project. The IMT is currently working closely with Christopher Lao, UCSI University’s Programme Leader for its Hospitality Management programme to integrate and emphasize work-based learning in the tourism and hospitality industry. 

In line with the aim to create a larger, highly capable taskforce for the future of hospitality and tourism, the University is also currently developing three 5-star hotels in Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur. The hotels are slated to be completed in May 2012, April 2013 and 2014 respectively.