Participants from as far away as Barcelona, Greece, Morocco and Spain, as well as and regional participants from Australia, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Hong Kong and India came to Singapore for the Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management’s (CNI) Professional Development Program (PDP) held from 5th to 17th January, 2009. Hailing from multinational chains, regional groups as well as independent properties, the hospitality professionals chose to pursue PDP courses in Singapore because of its convenient location, English speaking population, and the ease with which people from different cultural backgrounds can get around the city.

Miguel Trapé, Consultant with Fornavon S.L., Barcelona, Spain, said that the city state “is just as convenient to get to from Spain as Ithaca, and the time difference between Europe and Singapore is better work wise. Furthermore, the premises at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are really good. It’s easy to stay in touch with wireless internet access all over campus, and the lodgings are practical and inexpensive. Plus who wants to attend the PDP in Brussels and meet more Europeans? This is far more interesting!”

Apurva Salarpuria,Director, Salarpuria Group, India, said “Singapore is really easy to get to from India and this is my second time to participate in the Singapore PDP. I enjoy taking PDP courses at CNI because of the range of experience and cultural backgrounds that participants here have”. Salarpuria’s family develops hotels in India and the Middle East and he has now completed four PDP courses to earn the Cornell Certification in Real Estate, Development, and Hotel Investment.

Dr. Russell Arthur Smith, Interim Dean, Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management, said “The PDP courses in Singapore are designed to bring together hospitality professionals from a variety of backgrounds and world-renowned faculty who are experts in the fields, for an open exchange of ideas, perspectives and view-points through interactive learning using case studies and global best practices from the hospitality industry.”

Many of the participants felt that the amount of input they receive from other classmates make the PDP program worthwhile. The faculty, coming from both the Cornell Hotel School and the Nanyang Business School, actively encourage participants to share their knowledge and experience. “It is very interesting mix of people. Professor Jan deRoos involves you in the class discussion and you get so much input from the other participant’s personal experience. This is not something which can be gathered anywhere else.” commented Trapé. Salarpuria concurred, saying “You get lots of ideas and different perspectives from the varied experiences of the other participants. The participants not only hail from different cultures, they also have very different career backgrounds coming from different areas such as finance, marketing, real estate etcetera.”

PDP courses are held twice a year in Singapore, in January and July. The July 2009 course calendar is available on the CNI website at cni.ntu.edu.sg. Over 20 different courses in the areas of Food, Beverage, and Restaurant Management; General and Strategic Management; Human-Resource Management; Financial Management; Marketing; Operations management and Property-Asset Management and Real Estate will be offered in Singapore between 23rd July and 5th August, 2009. Nearly 1,000 participants from 40 countries have attended Singapore PDP courses in the last three years.

Although you can apply to the PDP up to 7 days prior to the start of the courses, it is advisable to apply as early as possible to reserve your place in the class and to secure your first choices in courses.

Sonali Deuskar
Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management
+65 6790 5800
CNI

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