With manpower shortage continuing to be a pertinent challenge in Singapore’s hospitality sector, Skal International Singapore is ramping up its outreach via Young Skal initiatives.
“Young Skal is a category of Skal International specially for students and young professionals directly related to the travel and tourism industry. The idea behind Young Skal is to ensure that clubs (around the world) attract new and young professionals training for or working in the industry who, when qualified, will automatically graduate to Active membership, thus ensuring a continuous supply of new and younger members,” said Tony Cousens, president, Skal International Singapore.
Cousens – who is also general manager of Wyndham Hotel Group’s Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore – shared that as the hospitality industry is “scraping the bottom of the barrel” when it comes to manpower in Singapore, such initiatives are particularly important.
Last month, the association kicked off the first in a series of events targeting young career professionals, and it also announced that it was setting up a Young Skal executive committee in the city state.
The inaugural Young Skal mixer in Singapore was a casual affair that enticed participation from young career professionals with opportunities “to learn the art of making cocktails”, as well as for “networking and mentoring”.
More of such events will take place over 2019. “The Young Skal committee will organise their own events for the year and generate more members. These shall be after-office fun events at trendy and hip venues, (and act as) a platform for networking opportunities in a more relaxed manner,” Cousens shared.
Young Skal members will also be invited to the association’s traditional monthly luncheons and dinners, and be paired with senior members as mentors, he added.
Within the Skal Singapore executive committee, team Young Skal is made up of Michelle Sandhu, HMC Asia Pacific director; Andrew Chan, founder & CEO of ACI HR; Andrew Jeffery, co-founder and CMO of InsiderTV; and Angeline Tang, regional director for leisure travel & partnerships at Avis Budget Group, Asia.
According to Cousens, the team will strive to move Young Skal forward this year, firstly by identifying capable candidates for a Young Skal committee, which would comprise a president, secretary, treasurer and a couple of committee members.
