Empowering the Hospitality Industry: UPI’s French Language Education Program

Bandung, October 31, 2023 – The UPI French Language Education Program, led by Dr. Farida Amalia, M.Pd., is currently engaged in a community service project that runs from October 4th to October 31st, 2023. This initiative is framed around the theme “Basic French Language Training for Tourism Enthusiasts in the City of Bandung.”

In a remarkable collaboration for this year’s project, the UPI program partnered with ENHAII Hotel, a part of the NHI Bandung Tourism Polytechnic, situated at Jl. Dr. Setiabudi No.186, Hegarmanah, District Cidadap, Bandung City, West Java 40141. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide basic French language training tailored to the needs of hotel and restaurant staff over a span of approximately one month, commencing on October 4th, 2023.

Before the training activities commenced, a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the Manager of ENHAII Hotel, Bayu Topan, Amd. Par., SE, and the Dean of the Faculty of Language and Literature Education at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Tri Indri Hardini, M.Pd.

The program was officially inaugurated at the ENHAII Hotel, with Dr. Farida Amalia, M.Pd., the Head of the French Language Education Program at UPI, serving as both the program leader and keynote speaker. She was joined by Bayu Topan, Amd. Par., SE, the General Manager of ENHAII Hotel, NHI Bandung Tourism Polytechnic. During her address, Dr. Farida Amalia introduced the team of educators who would be contributing to this one-month educational endeavor at ENHAII. The team included Prof. Dr. Tri Indri Hardini, M.Pd., Dr. Yuliarti Mutiarsih, M.Pd., Dra. Iim Siti Karimah, M.Hum., Drs. Dudung Gumilar, M.Sc., and Ikhwan Zuhdi, M.Pd. She also expressed her gratitude to the hotel for their willingness to collaborate on this project.
This community service program is a continuation of earlier initiatives focused on human resource development in the field of tourism, particularly in the hotel and restaurant sector. The first community service project (in 2020) was conducted in Pangandaran Regency, targeting hotel employees within the area. Subsequently, in 2021, the program returned to Pangandaran Regency, with a focus on tourism enthusiasts in Cisangkal Tourism Village.

The primary aim of this program is to provide a foundational understanding of the French language to hotel staff, including receptionists, restaurant servers, and room service personnel. Proficiency in French communication will enable them to deliver enhanced services to international guests who frequently stay at ENHAII Hotel. This French language training initiative is a progressive step towards improving the quality of the hotel services in Bandung, a sought-after tourist destination for international travelers. It also plays a pivotal role in preparing the local workforce to face the intense competition within the hospitality industry.

All participants in this program are eager to augment their skill set with a high level of motivation. They are fully committed to dedicating an entire month to learning French, aligning with the PKM team’s mission and vision to enhance the skills of human resources and hotel employees through foreign language proficiency (French), ultimately leading to an improvement in the quality of hotel services. (Contributed by UPI Public Relations)