BMIHMS Launches Cutting Edge VR Hotel Management Training

Simulated hotel virtual reality

BMIHMS launches the innovative Virtual Reality (VR) and Extended Reality (XR) training hotel, taking educating the next generation of hotel leaders to a new frontier.

When the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School (BMIHMS) at Torrens University Australia was established over thirty years ago, the simulated hotel learning environment at the Leura campus led the way in innovative teaching.  
 
Now in the digital age, BMIHMS continues to be ahead of the pack; most recently with the 2022 launch of the school’s innovative Virtual Reality (VR) and Extended Reality (XR) training hotel, taking educating the next generation of hotel leaders to a new frontier.  

 It’s innovations like these that makes BMIHMS the no.1 hotel management school in Australia and Asia Pacific.  

Available this year to bachelor-level students, the new VR and XR simulated hotel provides a vital training ground for students to practise and develop their soft skills that supplements their face-to-face learning. 

So, how does it work? 

Virtual Reality providing much needed solutions for soft skills training 

According to industry research, a full 14 of the 16 skills identified as essential for hospitality management are classified as soft skills, including skills such as leadership, professional demeanour, working with a team, and developing positive customer relations.  

Soft skills are fundamental to hospitality careers, and yet hotel management students rarely get the chance to practise these skills in a controlled environment before entering a workplace.  

That’s where the potential of VR and XR training comes in. BMIHMS’ Virtual Reality training environments allow learners to engage in structured role-play where they get real-time feedback as they move through different scenarios. Students learn by doing and then reapply their learning in different and unexpected scenarios, while practising critical thinking and judgement.  

This model of VR training is particularly effective for teaching soft skills to employees and it’s now being adopted by companies all over the world for that purpose.  

What is the BMIHMS VR and XR simulated hotel all about  

The BMIHMS virtual training hotel can be accessed in a VR form using goggles to interact in life-like environments, or via a desktop versionwith 3D Scenarios  

 The new VR hotel takes BMIHMS’ simulated hotel, experience-based learning into the virtual space. Now, even students completing studies online can benefit from  this  immersive experience and best of all, they can come back to replay lessons anytime, anywhere. 

 The BMIHMS VR Hotel provides an environment where students can make mistakes, work through different scenarios and test different approaches to guest interaction, before they are required to do it in a real workplace. They develop their confidence and practise soft skills in a safe environment, before testing themselves under pressure.  

Students have to complete tasks and activities as they wander around the virtual hotel space; serving digital guests, inspecting rooms, and making key decisions for the running of each department; just as they would in a regular hotel management role.  
Unlike a regular hotel, however, students can test their learning multiple times across varied or repeat scenarios within this safe virtual space. 

Features of the BMIHMS Virtual Simulated Hotel  

Here’s a breakdown of what this world of Extended Reality (XR) looks like. 

A 3D immersive hotel experience 

  • Just like a video game, users move around the 3D digital environment via their laptop or desktop. 
  • Learners engage with objects, surfaces and items as they move around the different hotel spaces, practising their skills of observation. 
  • Students interact with virtual staff and guests, practising different management styles, customer service approaches and soft skills. 
  • Learners encounter different issues and unexpected role playing scenarios, and must respond with problem solving and judgement.

The 360 Tour

  • The 360 Tour is a Google Maps-style digital, navigable map of the hotel space.
  • The 360 Tour map is loaded with links and tags to videos, learning resources and information.
  • You can hear feedback from virtual staff and guests.
  • Take interactive quizzes to track progress, which you can come back and redo any time.
  • Embedded instructional videos give you a guided tour by expert academics.

The VR headset experience

  • This takes the 3D experience to the next level via a VR headset, allowing the learner to have a fully immersive virtual training hotel experience.
  • Learners use their body and controllers to interact with objects, characters, data points and items in the digital space.

Explore this exciting new frontier for hotel education via this video.

Check our Hotel Management Courses to learn more
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