Irina Badayan, Vice-Rector of the Russian International Olympic University, has spoken at the annual international conference organised by the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism. The conference, held at the Rosa Khutor alpine resort, brought together over 100 representatives of Russian federal executive bodies, national tourism administrations of the CIS countries, international institutions, relevant committees of the RF Public Chamber, as well as tourism industry organisations. At this year's edition, focusing on the training of personnel for hospitality businesses, Irina Badayan told the participants about RIOU's courses specifically tailored to meet the needs of the industry.

During the preparations for the Sochi 2014 Games, RIOU ran several cycles of the Olympic Hospitality programme involving the city's hoteliers and restaurateurs. The participants discussed practical aspects of the organisation of high profile international competitions and provision of services to guests from different countries, looking at real life case studies and ready-made solutions to improve the quality of service management. Currently, RIOU continues to work in this area by offering a new course, Modern Standards of Hospitality, targeted at top executives, HR directors and managers from the hospitality industry. Instructors include acclaimed business trainers from Russia, Italy, France and Finland.

"As practice shows, personnel training has become a crucial element of Sochi's intangible legacy. Our hospitality courses are still in high demand, which is evidenced by our cooperation with the Northern Caucasus Resorts company, whose employees will soon take part in some of RIOU's educational seminars', - said Irina Badayan.