San Antonio Students Dive Into Hospitality and Tourism Careers in new CTE Program

SAN ANTONIO, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Walking into the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center are about 75 high school students, shielding their eyes to look up at the massive silver structure before them. Leading the pack is San Antonio hospitality leader Sherry Chaudhry, owner of Chaudhry Consulting and a Comfort Suites Hotel just blocks away. She's partnered with Visit San Antonio to provide Edgewood Independent School District with a groundbreaking hospitality Career Technical Education (CTE) conference, taking students on all-access tours of the Convention Center and Alamodome.

"We started this program because we needed a pipeline of young people willing to work hard and succeed for our economy to thrive," says Chaudhry. "It shows them the possibilities that tourism can offer them in terms of careers." From hotel management to events staff, the conference is the culmination of a semester-long program aimed at giving students insight into the hospitality industry.

In 2017, the San Antonio tourism industry exceeded $15 billion. That number is only expected to grow over the coming decades, and the local workforce must be able to grow with it. In just one example, Lodging Managers earn on average anywhere from $48,000 to $128,000 annually and training can be earned through Industry Certifications or a Hospitality Educational Degree.

Chaudhry Consulting is one of the first in the country to connect industry and education by creating a revolutionary program for EISD, including a computer program designed to simulate a Virtual Hotel in the classroom for hands on job training, as well as trips to Galveston to tour a Carnival cruise ship and the San Luis Hotel. "It's incredible to see their faces light up when they realize this could be their everyday lives," says Chaudhry. "I know what this career path has done for my life, and now it's an honor to share that with them."

ABOUT CHAUDHRY CONSULTING: Founded in 2017, Chaudhry Consulting, LLC is building a bridge between education and industry in the hospitality and tourism industries. Their High School CTE program for Hospitality Management and Tourism in Texas includes industry job certification courses with the American Hotel Education Institute (AHLEI). They also work with a team of industry leaders to adopt this program into the Industry Demand CTE program.

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SOURCE Chaudhry Consulting