The COVID 19 pandemic has created a formidable challenge for businesses. The webinar invited industry experts to explore – how corporate entities are tackling the COVID 19 pandemic situation and the sorts of changes that could become an enduring business model for that particular industry. The five sessions in this series of webinars focused on: Insurance and IT logistic, advertising, FMCG and IT Sales, financial services and financial market. The speakers included: Abhishek Mukherjee, Digital Practice Head, Wipro; Rohit Srivastava, Dispatch Manager, Oracle India; Bodh Deb, Vice-President and Nishanth Anantharam, Creative Director of Autumn Grey; Gaurav Pundlik, Branch Head ITC; Santosh Banerjee, Account Executive Sales, Dell; C S Sudheer, Managing Director IndianMoney .com; Shreyas Kumar M, Director, and CFO Carl Zeiss India; A Benil, Head-Market Research Our Business ladder and Karthick S, Co-founder Knowise Learning Academy. The weekly webinar series was organised by the Department of Management Studies every Saturday from July 18, 2020, to August 18, 2020.
Students, chefs and faculty across the country got an opportunity to listen to Atul Kochhar on what it takes to be a Michelin Star chef. He is one of the first two Indian chefs to receive a Michelin star, awarded in London in 2001 whilst at Tamarind. Talking about the future of the industry and the important qualities for success, he observed that consistency is the key to deliver unmatched value in the food business. The webinar was held on Zoom platform on July 28, 2020.
Amul India hosts talented chefs to present unique native cuisine on its social media sites. Prof Sivaram was invited by Amul India to demonstrate the recipe of a native cuisine. He rustled up a Chettinadu dessert called Kavuni Rice Halwa, black rice pudding, a Chettinadu delicacy for Amul’s global audience. Encouraged by the response to the show, Amul expressed interest in hosting more culinary shows curated by the department of the university. Prof. Sivaram R is an Asst. Professor in the department of BBA-Hospitality and Event Management. The session was held on June 15, 2020 on Amul Facebook Live for #SimpleHomemadeRecipes series garnering over 125 K views.
Understanding consumer satisfaction, consumer and service recovery and service recovery paradox are key to success in the hospitality industry. Covid-19 pandemic has thrown up new challenges in this area. Prof. Ashish Parthasarathy conducted an online session on understanding guest satisfaction and handling guests' complaints. He addressed the students of School of Hospitality, Tourism & Events, Faculty of Social Sciences Leisure Management, Taylor’s University, Malaysia. The session concluded with a comparison of Covid-19 impact on both the countries. The interaction was part of PES University’s international collaboration with Taylor's University, Malaysia. The interaction was hosted on Zoom video platform on June 9, 2020.
Job opportunities in the post pandemic times stand disrupted. Mr. Kallol Saha, alumnus of 2006 batch and Director of Human Resource Radisson Blu Dwarka shared his views on evolution of opportunities and scope of work of support staff in the hospitality industry in areas of housekeeping and maintenance. He underlined the importance of up-skilling to make the most of the opportunities in sales and marketing. The webinar was organised by the department of hospitality and event management on May 27, 2020.
Students got hands-on experience in setting an E-Commerce website. The workshop made the students aware of the right skills to become online commerce entrepreneurs in a short duration. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Shivam Bansal, Trainer at Indian Institute of Digital Education is India’s Premier School For Digital Marketing established in 2016. The online workshop organised by the department of hospitality and event management was held on Zoom video communication platform on May 7, 2020.
As the global tourism and travel industry is passing through an unprecedented crisis a look at the various dimensions of the Indian context gave a realistic picture of the industry to the students. The veterans of the industry shared their insights about the future of tourism, trends in sales and marketing and the career opportunities for the students. The speakers included Mr. Anurag Gupta-Secretary-SKAL Bengaluru, Chief Architect-Indian International Travel Exhibition, Mr. Raj Andrade- Chief Commercial Officer-Air India, SATS Airport Services, Mr. Saravanan Dhanabalu- Group General Manager-ITC Fortune Hotels, Mr.Niranjan Bhargava-Managing Director-Traveler’s & Choice & Hon.Secretary ofTravel Agents Association of India and Mr. Mithun R Krishnan-Head-Asia Market-Windows DMC, Vietnam and PES alumnus of 2008-2012 batch. The speakers shared their views about the present situation with a focus on safety, security and hygiene in the hospitality industry, data analysis for travel prediction, acceptability prediction of travel and revenue management after the pandemic is overcome. Dr J Surya Prasad was the guest of honour for the webinar. Prof V Jayakumar welcomed the attendees and Dr Vijay Kumar offered the opening remarks. The webinar organised by the department of hospitality and event management was held on April 16, 2020.
In a recent industry trend, many retail companies are showing a preference for hospitality graduates. Mr. Vivek Jothiani, Business Head – Operations, SPAR India, a PES alumnus of 2008 batch of hospitality program, explained how such students are groomed and their attitude is tuned to fit well with the opportunities in the retail sector. The guest lecture delivered online on PES University’s video platform on April 10, 2020 was accessed by the students of BHEM program from their homes.
The world wildlife day was celebrated with informed conversations with experienced and committed wildlife enthusiasts. Prakash Matada, wildlife photographer, Dheeraj, marine photographer and Sujan Bernard wildlife conservationist shared insights about wildlife in urban settings and steps that can be taken by us to reduce global warming. The session created awareness about snakes in Bengaluru, causes of snake bite, first aid and its management. The event organised by students of the department of management studies was held on March 3, 2020.
International Women's Day was celebrated by the department of management studies with a panel discussion on equality and empowerment of women in the industry titled Praudhangana. Successful women professionals Sarah Fazal, RJ with radio Mirchi; Janice Joseph, Surgeon and baker, Nikita Das, Sr cluster head Marriot Hotels shared their experiences. The celebrations organised by students of the department of management studies was held on March 10, 2020.
The first edition of the conference on Empowering Sustainability in hospitality, event and tourism brought together academicians, policy makers, students and practitioners to deliberate and discuss contemporary issues and opportunities for future sustainable development. Mr.Rohit Hangal, founder and Director of Sphere Travelmedia Exhibitions delivered the keynote address. Faculty Best paper was won by Dr. D P Sudagar and Students Best Paper was won by Adithya Jayprakash and Akhil Ajjar. Participants got an opportunity to write and present research papers, understand the impact of travel and tourism in the event industry. The conference conducted by Department of Hospitality and Event Management held on March 13, 2020.
The department of hospitality and event management secured fourth position from among 32 colleges at WGSHA Quest. Dhanyajeeth and Gaghan Lokesh won silver medal in the WoW at Every Moment event. WGSHA Quest is Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration’s annual collegiate hospitality competition. It is a platform for young professionals across the country to showcase their fineness in hospitality-related skills. The event was held on Feb 28-29 at Manipal University, Udupi.
Students of hospitality and event management program got an opportunity to know more about managing funds and investment approach for a successful future. Mr. Dipak Shodhan, an alumnus of PES and founder of Achievers Academy shared his insights about achieving financial success through proper investments at the right time. The event organised by Department of Hospitality and Event Management was held on Feb 28, 2020.
Times B-School Survey 2020 ranked PES University at 26th place in India, 1st in Karnataka and 3rd in South India. The survey results are the outcome of methodical analysis covering desk research, factual survey and perceptual rating.
PES University is committed to developing highly skilled human resources with the ability to adapt to an intellectually and technologically changing environment with the participative efforts of the management, staff, students and parents.
The Students of Hospitality and Event Management won multiple prizes at Outlook 2020 organised by Oriental School of Hotel Management, Waynad. Ghagan was declared best manager, Pooviah won first prize in flower arrangement, Sandeep and Pooviah won second place in vegetable carving, Krithi and Dhruva won second place product marketing, and Vijaylakshmi, Keerthana, Sandeep, Gynanesh and Dhruva won second place in culturals.
Dr. Jessy Nair, Associate Professor, MBA Department received the award for Best Paper in Pedagogical Innovations for the paper titled Co-creation for continuous learning at MARKCON2020, Marketing Ecosystems and Innovations. The nomination was submitted in three parts: nomination details, innovation statement and annexures. The final round involved quizzing by the jury of Dr. Moutusy Maity, Professor-Marketing, IIM-Lucknow and Dr. Tapan Sarker, Griffith University, Australia. The International conference, open for faculty in marketing domain was held from 9-11 January, 2020 at IBA, Bangalore.
ARIVU 2020 – a 5K run, Cancer Conquered? Almost! drew enthusiastic participation of students and staff. The running event aims to create awareness about cancer. The total registration amount was donated to an NGO in Bengaluru committed to preventing cancer. The second edition of the event was organised by the Department of Management Studies on February 14, 2020.
Students got an opportunity to know more about types of licenses, excise rules and regulations, fee structure for various business formats in the alcohol industry and rules related to starting a lounge hotel. Mr. Suresh shared practical insights with the students of hospitality and event management in the program on January 16, 2020.
National Tourism Day is observed on 25 January to highlight the importance of tourism for the economy of the country. Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Meenakshi Gupta believed that tourism in India has amazing potential it is the responsibility of hospitality and event management professionals to build it up to generate revenue. The celebrations at PES University were dedicated towards the 17 Sustainable development goals set by the UN. Vindu 2.0 – a Travelogue was launched in the event. The poster, painting and photography competitions which saw active participation was judged by Mr. Abhishek Dev Kumar an alumnus of 2014 batch. The winners were awarded prizes. The event was held on 24th January 2020.
Students of hospitality and event management program got an opportunity to know more about the role and functions of sales in hotels, increasing influence of digital marketing and the importance of interpersonal skills to succeed in services sector. Rohan Bagal, Sales Executive, Ibis City Centre, and alumnus of PESU, shared practical insights about the challenge faced by marketers to sell or communicate services to a customer and how the challenges are overcome.