Berggruen launches UEI Global insitute for hospitality industry

New Delhi, July 3 (UNI) Berggruen Hospitality (BH) Pvt Ltd today launched its United Education Institute Global (UEIG) with an initial investment of 10 million dollars over next three years, offering hospitality programmes.

Commenting on the launch of UEIG, BH Advisors' Managing Director Kabir Kewalramani said, ''Berggruen is investing aggressively in India having already committed substantial funds to real estate projects, budget hotels, car rental and its associated businesses and heavy equipment rental.'' Education is an important focus area for Berggruen and we look forward to significantly increasing our involvement in the education sector, he added.

More investments will follow as new programmes are developed and launched. The company plans to introduce courses in retail management, aviation and travel and tourism.

The first institute will be launched in Rohini, New Delhi with the first session scheduled to start on July 15, 2007. It will launch four more academies in Noida, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Pune by September this year and scale up the number to 50 by 2009.

The institute offers one year programme as well as six months and three months certificate courses, specialising in different hospitality interest areas.

The course fee will vary from Rs 45,000 to Rs 75,000 depending on the programme. The programme will be accredited and validated by Hotelschool, The Hague, which is one of the top three hospitality management schools in the world. The institute is seeking the accredition from the concerned authority.

''The faculty will consist of hospitality instructors, trained by The Hotelschool, The Hague and will be complemented by instructors from a number of adjunct faculties from industry and academia including project planning, finance, marketing and business development, said UEI-Global Managing Director Praveen Roy.

''Our link with Keys Hotels is an important association for us in developing a network within the hospitality industry to ensure that our students can avail of the best possible opportunities when they graduate,'' said UEI Global Head of Hospitality Ashish Kesharwani.

The company is in talks with majors hotel chains for training and placement of the students but Mr Roy refused to divulge any details saying it was too early to make a statement.

The certificate courses will focus on honing the skills of individuals in interest areas such as Rooms Division, Food Preparation, Bartending, Services Operations and Hospitality Management as a whole, he added.

Keys Hotels Managing Director Sanjay Sethi said, ''There is great need for reliable and efficient hospitality professionals in the country. Keys Hotels are aiming to fulfill the requirement for high quality hospitality at a global level.'' Each institute will have labs - with a state-of-the-art kitchen, a training restaurant, Wi-Fi enabled classrooms along with a curriculum structured to provide students with hands-on learning experience.

UNI