An FAU-Lifeline for the Hospitality and Tourism Industries

The Hospitality and Tourism Management program, at FAU Business, is making headlines by offering a free certificate to industry workers and professionals who may be affected by the COVID-19 crisis. At this very moment, more than 9,000 people have registered from more than 80 countries, and program director - Dr. Peter Ricci - joined the podcast to tell us more about the offering. Read about the course >

Transcript

spk_0:   0:00
support for this podcast comes from the Florida Atlantic University College of Business, home to over 8000 students, seven departments, six centers and an impressive offering of interdisciplinary and professional development programs taught by the college is world class faculty. Learn more at business dot f a u dot edu Hello, I'm Jen Mullins

spk_1:   0:30
and I'm Ryan Swan. Oh, and this is what's happening at FAA. You business. The Hospitality and Tourism Management Program, with an FAA use college of business, is making headlines by offering a free certificate to industry workers and professionals who may be affected by the Cove in 19 crisis. At this very moment, more than 5000 people have registered from more than 80 countries, and here to tell us more about it is program director Dr Peter Richie. Before we get started, the U R l to find out more info about the hospitality in terms of management program at FAA, you business is business that FAA you that edu slash hospitality and the link to the free certificate course can be found in the show notes of this episode. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy our interview with Dr Peter Rechy

spk_0:   1:12
Hi, Peter. Thank you so much for joining us today. Why did you decide to offer their certificate and what's been the reaction since you've done that?

spk_2:   1:21
Well, it's been a crazy roller coaster ride for me, and initially when we didn't know how strong this was gonna be, I knew it would have some impact on hospitality. And I started worrying about our students and our employers, that recruit and then a more severe almost overnight. And I had the flashbacks to my career when I first graduated undergrad. It was the financial stock market crash of the late eighties. Then I immediately went back to school to do a masters because there weren't enough jobs going around. And then when I graduated with my master's was the Persian Gulf crisis and the airlines and the hotel's got hit again. And it's just these cycles come. We've never had one like this that affected every segment, and that was just sticking out of my head when, when 9 11 occurred immediately, all air travel stop, but people were still eating in restaurants. They were still bonding to feel safe with their family car. Reynolds were exploding because everybody started to travel by rail or car. In this case, every possible hospitality segment stopped immediately overnight, and it if it's affecting individuals worldwide in the hospitality and tourism business. From the person who started yesterday, that's a server all the way up to the CEO. There's been layoffs stoppage across the board. So are businesses, is cyclical. And when you get laid off for furloughed or your hours cut, the first thing you do in a lot of cases go home. You're angry, you're cranky, and then you tell me I'm never gonna work in hospitality again. I should have been an accountant. I should have been a pharmacist. And you have these thoughts and you're hearing it from your friends and everybody starts griping, and that's what's that in my head. I want to do a certificate in the short run. We're all home for at least 2 to 4 weeks, it seems, and we could do three weeks of content. We have a long term hospitality and tourism management certificate that we do through the Florida Atlantic University College of Business Executive Education Area. That certificate usually has about 50 to 70 people. It's all day face to face on Saturdays. Lots of interaction, lots of engagement. And I thought, Well, let's try that on in an online version and we'll have people talk with questions. We'll do it in a chat room, something like that, and we can help 100 150 people. Well, I was shocked instantly because the flyer I put together I did a test female and it got spread around, and within a day I had five or 700 requests. It's been out now about four or five days, and we now have over 5000 people registered from 83 different countries, and it keeps expanding. So everybody in this business is either out of work had their hours cut or, um is just home, you know, thinking about what their life is gonna be next. So because of my own experience with 9 11 you know, the 2008 recession I was laid off from hotel general manager jobs. You know, every we've all done through it in this business. And so my own personal feeling is why I started it. But I never thought we'd get to where we are. It's a little scary, fun, scary.

spk_0:   4:53
It's quite amazing how it's taken off in the last few days.

spk_2:   4:56
It's unbelievable, and the number of registrants keep coming. I had to turn off the volume on my e mails chat with you because it's being ding ding. It's just incredible. And countries, you know that I've never visited. Now I have a friend, and, uh, they have somebody to talk to feeling their pain. It's just been an incredible journey so far.

spk_1:   5:18
That's great. So, Peter, how how specifically do you see the certificate helping those who are, you know, furloughed, laid off have had their hours cut? Or maybe people who are still working and just want to improve their their skills while they're still working?

spk_2:   5:31
Absolutely. We've even had some people from outside hospitality who have been thinking about hospitality for years say, Hey, this is a taste hospitality. I'm gonna try it so it'll assist everyone in a unique way. There are very few hospitality and tourism programs in the United States that are housed in business schools. Most of them are free, standing there a little bit more vocational than business focused, and so we've always prided ourselves on touching the most important point of the hospitality business when we teach certificates and those of the areas of marketing and revenue management hospitality law, get excellence and guest service doing better than your competition finance, definitely understanding how that impacts you and also just recession on the knowledge, skills and abilities that you need. And how do you develop those competency? So we already had ah, well received, well regarded certificate that touched all those five areas. It's almost like a taste. It's like a miniature taste of what we would offer in a bachelor's or an MBA degree. So we already had that. So I think it was just a lot of people. Because most people don't have a bachelor's in business administration. They may not have even taken a finance class along the way, so it'll really help in a variety of ways. But the main reason it'll help it will stop you from dealing with the crisis for a few hours a day when you log in and focus instead on what, your love, this hospitality, and then you can take those pills back as soon as we get back on track, so it'll mentally help you. It'll content help you And if you know, everyone needs to realize we're putting this together in a week and 1/2. We're shrinking our typical certificate, and it's just gonna be a taste. But hopefully it'll be a yummy taste. That's that's like the colony. Yummy.

spk_0:   7:34
Yes, indeed. What is it that you suggest these participants do? Post certificate?

spk_2:   7:39
Well, I'd encourage everyone who enrolled to make sure they complete all the quizzes and passed them so that they actually do get a certificate. Um, again, we normally send you a beautiful bound certificate. We can do that for 5000 plus, we're gonna send you an F b u Elektronik email certificate of some type that is Ballad is accredited and comes from our program so that you can put it on your resume and go back out world into the world. So post certificate. You know, I want youto stay focused. Continue ongoing education. If this winds up persisting +36 12 months don't give up on our industry. We've been through so many crises over the past 100 years that affect our industry. Yet we always come back. We always d'oh and we will because right now, if you ask your friends that you go. Both of you are probably doing every day. Everybody wants to go out and have a meal. Everybody wants to get the kids out of the house to go away for a week at Go to Disney, do something. So post certificate, you know, feel more confident that we will bounce back, find out which areas we touch on in the certificate that interest you and then continue some education over the next six months in that area. And I think you'll come back a little refreshed. You know, I'm trying to stay focused myself. We all are trying to take a walk every day doing social distancing, but staying engaged by video by phone, whatever it takes. So post certificate. Just think how happy people are gonna be when things let them out of the house, even just to go toe for a meal at the Applebee's or Ale house. There

spk_1:   9:22
anything in your neighborhood?

spk_2:   9:23
So you know, I love Starbucks. I love to go and have my Starbucks and work there all day. The part I'm missing right now is I can't sit in a table and work, so I have the enjoyment of my drink. I'm very proud of the company for staying open, allowing their employees to serve us. But I'm not getting the same social experience. So the pent up demand I want people who take the certificate not just to run back to work and get buried again. But think about what they got out of it in what areas they want to continue their learning and plus, But on your resume, it's gonna look good.

spk_1:   9:58
Peter, do we have any idea about how long it'll take for the industry to bounce back?

spk_2:   10:02
Yeah, I mean, as far as the industry itself. This one, like I said, is the 1st 1 in the lifetime of probably everyone who's working in the business that effects across every segment, and that is different. I mean, that that is very different. And that's gonna take longer. You know, it's a hospitality is the first to get the hit when we go into a decline, and it's the last to come out super strong, but it'll get us back to work. But there will be fewer conferences because many already cancels gonna take a year to reschedule. You know, people who missed the Cruise this year might just put it off for next year. So industry will rebound. It always has, but it's gonna take a while. The promising thing. I look at one today and anyone can Google. This is if they would like Thio. Just Google International Visitor Arrivals. 1952 22 2020 International Visitor rivals 1950 to 2020 you'll find a graphic that comes up from the World Travel Council or the World Tourism Organization. I forget exactly who put it together. But even when 9 11 the 2008 recession, the tsunami in Indonesia, the Persian go for those on Lee appear as a tiny, tiny blip on the graphic, the trend upward is there. Every generation wants to travel more and that we will rebound. It's just we're in the midst of that blip. So it seems like the skies follow, So that's kind of you know, that's kind of my optimism. I pull that graphic out one today I look at it like, Okay, we'll be out of this eventually.

spk_0:   11:47
How can the FAA, you hospitality and tourism management program help in the future?

spk_2:   11:52
Well, in the future, it seems I've made 5000 new contacts of friends. Everybody is so warm. And branches, I mean, ah, the emails and the personal pleas of help or the warmth and thank you is just incredible. I mean, it's just people are dying for some interaction, and those of us in hospitality were gregarious. We want to be with people. We want to be helping others, and we're lost. Right now. We're kind of like, Hey help! So I think in the long run, if they get a taste of something that like they like, we can help him do a regular certificate that's longer, more content, more thorough. They can study with us from one of these 83 countries online very easily because I'm talking to both of you were not even in the same room and we're just a social. So I'm hoping we can help them for the whole career, and many of them already have a bachelor's degree, a master's degree. We have some attorneys. We have an MBA with the hospitality specialization. Maybe somebody will come into that. My favorite response thus far are some of the high schools where the teachers are teaching hospitality programs across the United States and they want their students to take this as a taste before they go to college. So hopefully some of those students they'll go to college all over the world, but hopes to hopefully some of them come here to see you. We can help him and Millot least get to know us this way virtually and they'll feel more comfortable. So I I thought those features were amazing. I commend them. Several of them have reached out from all different states in the U. S. To say Hey, I teach hospitality right now. My students are already home. This will be a taste to college. Can they take it? And I had to think for a minute, Okay. Why not? You know, just take it, enjoy it and past your quiz It even better this way they'll know of hospitality in their blood for later. So I think there's a lot of ways our program can help, and I want to remind everybody that our website is business dot f a u dot e d u slash hospitality business dot If you don t do you forward slash hospitality and my context in was there and feel pretty mailmen.

spk_1:   14:09
Peter. Thanks again. So much for joining us. We really appreciate it.

spk_2:   14:12
Uh, this has been great, and it actually calms me. And that stopped the dinging in my email

spk_1:   14:17
for a few minutes. But anyone listening? Anyone listening,

spk_2:   14:21
please register. We want to help with many people as we can. And I actually looked forward to meeting at least 90% of you in person some time in

spk_1:   14:29
my life. Thank you All.

spk_0:   14:33
What's happening at f A u Business is part of the FAA you College of Business Podcast network. Learn more at business dot fo you dot edu slash podcasts.