The American Hotel & Lodging Education institute (EI) has expanded its reach in Asia after signing agreements with both Beijing Hospitality Institute (BHI) and the Bandung Institute of Tourism (BIT) in West Java to become Global Academic Partners (GAP).

The EI supports and encourages the certification of hospitality professionals in all facets of the industry, including spas, hotels, food and beverage establishments, trainers, hospitality educators and hotel suppliers and serves the needs of hospitality schools and industries in 54 countries with more than 90 licensed affiliates.

BHI offers a four-year Bachelor of Arts in Hospitality Management programme, with the academic certification of Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), while BIT offers 14 study programmes in hospitality, travel and tourism management, with more than 17,000 alumni working in hospitality around the world.

Dr. Li Botan, BHI chair, has said that China is currently suffering a shortage in high-level managers. He said: "China's hotel industry is still lacking a generation of professional managers who have rich theoretical and practical knowledge about rules and regulations of the global hotel industry. Looking into the hotel management practice, the hotel industry needs pragmatic talents who have a solid knowledge foundation with rich practical experience and enthusiasm."

Noviendi Makalam, director for BIT said: "Within our future strategy, we would be very pleased to adopt EI professional certifications. By doing that, we are certain our institution can contribute more in the growth of human resource development in hospitality and tourism of Indonesia and the ASEAN region."

The EI is a non-profit educational foundation and looks to provide quality resources to train, educate and certify hospitality workers worldwide.