Swiss Institute training program at Cape Weligama Resort

Swiss Trainers from left : Dr Rohith Delilkhan, Marianne Dubs, Josef Jans Susann

The candidates,trainers and distinguished guests

With an entirely new concept and approach to training for sustainable results the Swiss Institute inaugurated its training activities for the hospitality industry. A group of Sri Lankan training and industry experts as well as 16 staff from Resplendent Ceylon were guided through the Swiss approach to adult education and hospitality training – and provided with the instruments to train effectively in 16 days of intensive workshops and coaching sessions. The entire resort was the showplace of training with 5 top Swiss training experts carrying out sessions in small groups on teaching methodology, housekeeping, F&B services, Front Office, and butler services. By the end of the program all participants had acquired the skill to train their own staff and trainees for high-impact service and business results in hotels, which included reworking standard operating procedures and improving customer service activities to suit the style of the hotel in question. Both the CEO of Resplendent Ceylon, Dominique Nordmann, as well as the head of the Swiss trainer team, Susanne Oswald, were amazed by the outcomes. Staff at the hotel who had never really spoken before with guests or with others could stand up and give an introduction to champagne and demonstrate how to recommend and serve wine in English, or demonstrate how a table was cleaned and laid according to Swiss hotel standards. The Swiss team was impressed by the quality of Sri Lankan talent, which we all know is apparent overseas, where Sri Lankans get an opportunity to perform and bring out their best capabilities. Swiss Institute CEO Dr. Rohith Delilkhan felt it was time this also happened in Sri Lanka, and stated in his speech at the closing ceremony that “bringing Swiss standards in hospitality together with Sri Lanka´s talent pool was creating a marriage made in heaven”, a statement endorsed by the Deputy Swiss Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Kurt Meier, who also hoped the program in Weligama would mark the beginning of a transformation of hospitality training for the entire country, putting the hospitality career where it belongs: Right at the top of the best opportunities worldwide to fulfilling personal aspirations for development and success.