THE Management Development Institute of Singapore opened a new training centre on Wednesday that will train more workers for the burgeoning tourism industry, and offer mature workers a chance to pick up new skills quickly for a new career.

The institute, in collaboration with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), will kick-start a new three-week course for mature workers looking for a new career in the tourism and hospitality industry from Nov 3.

Mr Lim Swee Say, secretary-general of NTUC, who officiated at the opening of the centre, said this new programme will offer those who want a career switch but do not wish to spend too much time in training courses a chance to pick up functional skills quickly.

It will help feed manpower into the tourism industry which is growing by leaps and bounds. Mr Lim said, with the two Integrated Resorts opening in late 2009 and early 2010, as well as industry like the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, some 1,000 workers will be needed. So getting mature workers retrained for these industries will help ease the coming labour crunch.

These three-week courses are part of NTUC's Professionals Conversion Programme, which began in April, to help mature professionals, managers, executives and technicians make a career switch. Two other industries, call centre and logistics, will also be running such short courses with their relative industry associations.

Since April, Mr Lim said NTUC has conducted 10 career seminars for 664 mature workers. Of these, 70 per cent are above 40 years and 74 per cent are not employed and are looking for new jobs. He also added that 169 have found new jobs paying between $2,000 and $5,000, with another 154 undergoing training for their new careers.

The new three-week tourism and hospitality module at MDIS was launched following feedback from workers who say they do not wish to spend one or two years to pick up new qualifications, as some existing programmes offer.

At MDIS' new $250,000 training centre, participants can pick up skills on managing on hotel front desk operations, house-keeping as well as bar-tending.

At the end of the course, the mature workers will receive help in job placement. Already, the centre has lined up 30 employers, ranging from hotel groups like Accor to the Singapore Zoo, which are looking to hire these re-trained executive workers.

Accor human resources manager Alice Lee said there is already a shortage of executives for the hospitality industry. She welcomes the new programmes.