Over the past few years, Australian Aid funded Skills forInclusive Growth (S4IG) has designed and implemented innovative and flexible training models to develop the skills of the owner/ managers and employees of the accommodation enterprises most prominent in the East of Sri Lanka. S4IG piloted a blended approach of executive coaching for owner/ managers and relevant training for employees to develop businesses and improve service quality. Training was delivered in a flexible way to enable existing workers to undertake training in the workplace or through short workshops.
The Guest House ‘Master Class’ project enabled 47 guest houses to participate in a pilot program with exposure visits and skills training in house keeping, food and beverage, front office, customer care, safety and hygiene, e-tourism, and book-keeping. Over 178 employees received skills training and 41 senior staff received coaching assistance. After the training,76 males and 29 females were freshly employed in the sector to cater to the increasing demand. Eleven guest houses expanded their businesses into new sectors.
S4IG also introduced a flexible workplace learning package that supports improvement to skills in six basic occupations in the accommodation sector. Owners and senior employees were trained to become workplace trainers endorsed by industry to deliver training to other employees by an industry endorsed team of assessors attached to the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Sri Lanka. As of August 2019, 37 mentors, 249 work place trainers and 164 employees have been trained.
Earlier, Yuhibuhi Forest Resort in Pullumalai, Batticaloa simply offered fishing, hiking and an outdoor swimming pool. The staff were also lacking in skills. Following the coaching and training sessions offered by S4IG through the Master Class for Guest Houses project, the owner of Yuhibuhi, Niroshan was convinced that he could apply his newly acquired knowledge and put his skills to good use to improve the resort and work towards transforming it.Despite being new to the industry, Niroshan’s eagerness to learn and apply new thinking at Yuhibuhi has made him a mentor, an assessor and a trainer of workplace skills improvement.
From setting up a low-cost changing room by the swimming pool, categorizing the array of rooms into home stay, luxury clay-house and tree-house, Niroshan has provided options for his guests to suit different budgets and visitor experiences. He is also installing a waste recycling system and enlarged the kitchen and dining areas to ensure better hygiene and food storage practices. His idea of including a tree house came from his belief that“every property must have a story to tell,” which has already proved to be very popular with guests. With a desire to give his guests a great hospitality and wellness experience, Niroshan has also introduced Ayurvedic treatment and massages. He also facilitates tours and has linked with local groups to provide a range of activities for his guests.
Niroshan, the owner of the Yuhibuhi Forest Resort in Batticaloa says, “I come from 18 years in the financial industry. I joined the program because I knew I didn’t know enough to run my business. Our business coach enabled us to expand our network and approach more economical markets for our key supplies. We have also implemented kayaking, camping, bird watching, newly and are expanding our garden to include herbal plants.”
The resort itself has been upgraded with the addition of ramps to two of the rooms, enabling them to join the ‘Disability Tourism’ project. From his original cadre of six staff members, Niroshan has now expanded to include four differently-abled employees and a female staff member. Niroshan has grown with his surroundings and the community, ensuring his services reflect the profile of his staff. Inspired by the transformation of this business, other hoteliers and resort owners in the area are following suit. They have noticed how Yuhibuhi is now popular among both international and domestic visitors even though the property is located remotely.
Yuhibuhi has certainly come a long way from a resort that offered basic amenities with low occupancy rates to one that boasts of a variety of activities and a leader in the sector, with many more plans for enhancements.
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