SINGAPORE, 19 July 2010 � More than 280 hospitality executives are attending the Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management�s (CNI) General Managers Program (GMP) and Professional Development Program (PDP), which start this week in Singapore. 

Dr Russell Smith, Interim Dean of CNI said: � As CNI is committed to developing and training well qualified professionals for the hospital industry, we are delighted that both programs are now running successfully into its fifth year and are attracting many participants from around the world. In total, CNI has hosted more than 100 participants in the GMP and 1,400 PDP participants from about 50 countries in the last five years (including the 2010 enrollments). With the many challenges facing the hospitality industry, we believe that professionals and executives need to continually sharpen their strategic thinking and enhance their skills and operational excellence by participating in such programs. Indeed, both programs provide an excellent environment to discuss new ideas and practices to help manage issues effectively, as well as provide an excellent opportunity to network with industry leaders and thinkers.� 

For both programs, industry experts and academic staff from CNI and Cornell University�s School of Hotel Administration will help participants dissect theory-based ideas and learning and relate these to current issues and practices in the hospitality industry.

General Managers Program

Twenty-six executives from China, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Maldives, Australia, India, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam are attending the GMP, which is held from 19 to 29 July 2010.� The two-week program comprises topics such as strategic leadership: role of the general manager in the 21st century; strategic marketing; financial management for value creation; managing change; inspiring commitment, motivation and performance; demand management; creating sustainable competitive advantage; strategic management; strategic operation management; human resource strategy; and planning for the future.  The program starts with a welcome dinner and orientation dinner tonight. 

Feedback from previous years� programs had been positive with the following comments from GMP 2009 participants. Mr Anthony Leslie Chisholm, General Manager, Sofitel Dalat Palace and Novotel Dalat (Vietnam) shared: �GMP provides the platform and framework to challenge ourselves to think outside the box and outside our normal working habits and styles.� 

Another particpant, Ms Angeline Tan, Executive Assistant Manager, Grand Park City Hall (Singapore) said: �To participate in this GMP was one of my career objectives. The GMP 2009 was a unique learning experience and an excellent opportunity to benchmark operating a hotel against best practices of our business. The gastronomic dining experiences in 5-star hotels were stimulating! Great learning opportunity, great networking and great facilities and set up.�

Ms Angela Pan, Director of Rooms, Renaissance Beijing Capital Hotel (China) said: �GMP creates a great opportunity for hotel professionals to refresh themselves and share best practices. It also enables people to see the whole picture of hotel industry, and helps them to successful navigating through the dynamic hospitality scene.�  

Professional Development Program

The PDP, which will be held from 22 July to 4 August 2010, has attracted more than 250 executives from the Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, Middle East and the United States this year. 

The three-day classroom sessions cover a wide variety of career specializations in the hospitality industry. It teaches cutting-edge management techniques such as strategic leadership in turbulent times; restaurant economics: the business of restaurants; hotel revenue management; foodservice management; competing for customer experiences;  operations management in the hospitality industry; interactive marketing; and building service oriented teams. Participants can select which sessions they would like to take part in.

This program also offers Cornell certifications in specific topics relevant to the hospitality industry if the participant completes four courses. The certifications are available for financial management, property asset management and real estate, food beverage and restaurant management, general and strategic management, human resource management, marketing management, and operations management

Some hospitality groups, which have sent and continue to send their staff to the PDP include Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific, Far East Organization, Fairmont, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Oakwood, Shangri-La and The Peninsula. 

About Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management

The Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management is the premier hospitality management institute, and a partnership between the world�s leading hotel management school - Cornell University�s School of Hotel Administration and one of Asia�s elite business schools - Nanyang Technological University�s Nanyang Business School. 

Cornell University is the only Ivy League university to offer bachelor, master and PhD programs in hospitality management. The Nanyang Business School is a premier business school ranked number one in Singapore and number three in Asia and whose Master in Business Administration is in the top 27 in the world by the Financial Times 2010 Global MBA Rankings. CNI won the Hospitality Excellence Award 2010 at the China Hotel Investment Conference (CHIC) in Shanghai in May 2010.

Strategically located in Singapore, CNI is positioned to develop leaders, managers and entrepreneurs for the Asian hospitality and tourism industry. It offers hospitality education programs designed to alleviate the shortage of qualified talent that is currently plaguing the hospitality industry in Asia Pacific. 

The main programs provided by the institute are:

� Master of Management in Hospitality (MMH) 
This is a one-year postgraduate degree equivalent to a Master of Business Administration and is specialized in the hospitality industry. MMH students spend six months in Singapore with the Nanyang Business School and six months at the Cornell University�s School of Hotel Administration in Ithaca, New York, USA. 

�  Executive Education
Executive education programs for hospitality professionals include:

- Professional Development Program (PDP) 
The three-day classroom sessions cover a wide variety of career specializations in the hospitality industry. It teaches cutting-edge management techniques presented by internationally recognized faculty members and industry leaders. Participants can earn Cornell certifications in financial management, property asset management and real estate, food beverage and restaurant management, general and strategic management, human resource management, marketing management, and operations management. CNI has hosted more than 1,400 PDP participants from about 50 countries in the last five years.

- General Managers Program (GMP) 
This is a 10-day program designed for general managers of full service hotels and their immediate successors, and tackles strategic management issues facing the hospitality industry today.

- Custom Programs 
Custom programs especially tailored for corporations and organizations to enhance skills and service quality of their staff.

CNI also delivers cutting-edge hospitality research with Asian perspectives and focuses through Asian Business Case Centre by Nanyang Business School and Center for Hospitality Research by Cornell School of Hotel Administration. For more information, please visit www.cni.ntu.edu.sg