Will Invest Rs 10 Crore In The Project
Unicorn To Set Up Hospitality Academy In Goa

Jyoti Koul - New Delhi

Foreseeing the need for trained and multiskilled professionals in the hospitality industry across the world, Unicorn Holdings Ltd has firmed plans to set up a hospitality academy in Goa. The company is investing Rs 10 crore (excluding the land cost) on developing the project. The academy will offer a three-year degree course and is expected to be operational in two years time.

Unicorn is presently in the process of finalising the university to be affiliated with. According to Hari Ravindranath, executive vice-president, Unicorn Holdings, “Though we are developing an academy primarily for the hospitality industry, the course curriculum would be designed in a way to cover other industries viz customer service companies, call centres, hospitals etc. This apart, the methodology adopted would focus on making students feel confident enough to handle responsibilities in their respective organisations - any where in the world - from day one itself.”

Bringing this dream to realty would not be possible without exceptional faculty in the academy, as a result more than 80 per cent of the faculty in the academy would be sourced from varied industries (including hospitality and allied industries) to provide students with all the possible inputs required to excel in their professional career, asserted Ravindranath.

Unicorn is confident that its first academic session will begin by the end of 2004. Currently, the company is in the process of finalising the aspects like curriculum, fee structure and tie up with the universities. However, as the company has already partnered with Carlson Hospitality to open the 160 room resort in Goa, it is very likely that it might also tie up with Radisson’s Institute for International Management and Technology (IIMT) set up by Radisson Hotels Worldwide (RHW) - a joint venture between RHW and Unitech Limited, affiliated with the Oxford Brooks University.

To be set up on four acres of land, the academy’s infrastructural facilities would comprise residential facilities, laboratories, training kitchens, indoor and outdoor sports facilities, library and swimming pool to name a few. Unicorn Holdings Ltd is a multinational company based in UK and Kenya with diverse interests in trading, finance, computer software, telecommunications and hospitality.