On Thursday, February 8, the Ivan Bobersky Lviv State University of Physical Culture hosted an online meeting of the Stakeholder Council of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business. The moderator of this event was the head of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business of our higher education institution, Professor Maria Paska; the co-organizer was the head of the Stakeholder Council of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business, Doctor of Philosophy, manager of the Swiss Hotel and Valentino Restaurant, Mykhailo Shevelyuk.

The following delivered welcoming remarks: Head of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business of our university, Professor Maria Paska; Dean of the Faculty of Tourism, Associate Professor Volodymyr Kholyavka; Dean of the Faculty of Distance and Postgraduate Education, Associate Professor Volodymyr Khudoba; Chairman of the Stakeholder Council, Doctor of Philosophy, Manager of the Swiss Hotel and Valentino Restaurant, Mykhailo Shevelyuk.

The following speakers spoke at the meeting:

• Oksana Davydova – Head of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business, Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Semyon Kuznets Kharkiv National Economic University;

• Vasyl Pasichnyy – Head of the Department of Meat and Meat Products Technology, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the National University of Food Technologies, Kyiv;

• Rostyslav Danyleyko – Director of Sales and Marketing of Accor Hotels in Lviv;

• Nataliya Tabinska – Head of the Advisory Center “Farmer’s Country”, which is implementing the project of a hub for popularizing the products of local producers in the Lviv region;

• Iryna Chikita – Financial Director, Managing Director of Edem Family;

• Yana Merzlyakova – Director of LH Hotel & SPA in Lviv

• Andriy Nimets – Co-founder of the restaurant “Boykivska Gostyna”, Postgraduate student of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business, specialty 241 “Hotel and Restaurant Business”;

• Bohdan Mykhaylov – Founder of the NGO “Restaurant Guild”, Brand Chef, Stakeholder of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business;

• Olga Mykhaylova – Director of the Training Center “Profi-Club”, Stakeholder of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business;

• Yulia Feshchyn – Head of the Reservation Department at the Vintage Boutique Hotel, Manager of the Hospitality School “Horeca School”;

• Oksana Kulyk – Owner of “Avangard-Lviv”, Stakeholder of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business;

• Oksana Delikatna – Founder of the catering company “Furshetmaister”.

During the meeting of the Stakeholder Council of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business of the Ivan Boberskyi State University of Finance and Economics, the council members, invited guests and industry experts, and the academic community of the Faculty of Tourism monitored the educational programs of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business: they emphasized the uniqueness of the programs; the level of personnel, methodological and scientific support of the first (bachelor's), second (master's) and third (educational and scientific) levels of higher education, and identified areas for improving the quality of educational programs and ensuring their compliance with the criteria for assessing the quality of educational programs.

The Council noted the most pressing issues of environmental friendliness in the hospitality sector. The participants of the event devoted a lot of time to local products, public catering, new trends in the development of the hotel and restaurant business, highlighted various forms and types of hospitality establishments, considered examples of successful transformation of a hotel and restaurant at the request of guests. In particular, the popularization of authentic dishes in a new format.

The participants of the event discussed the problems of the industry, in particular:

▶ Staff shortage. Now it is worth working and developing a strategy where the majority of the functionality in your companies can be performed by women (this is more than 80%) or veterans, whom we can socialize and return to a "peaceful" life.

Business should get used to the idea and reality in principle and be ready to train employees without experience or take them on internships, internships in educational institutions of various levels of training: colleges, universities. We will also have to work with private institutions that can provide minimal training for employees in a short time.

▶ Quality and service. In almost the third year of the war, our guests still want to feel welcome and they need quality service.

▶ Inclusivity and accessibility are extremely important and relevant in the next few decades. It is worth working on the infrastructure of accommodation facilities, more rooms for people with disabilities, accessibility, because this is critically necessary.

▶ Security. Shelter, shelter and more shelter! A restaurant in a shelter, a conference room in a shelter, additional services that can be provided in a shelter.

The issue of security is our painful issue, which will be relevant for a long time even after the final victory over the aggressor, because we can no longer be unprepared for the loss of lives, for the tragic consequences of Russia's misanthropic ideology.

This is not an entirely pessimistic forecast, it is about the need to step up and work together to develop new ideas and approaches to solving problems in the hospitality sector and implementing successful strategies for the development of our internal, local, everything that our sacred Ukrainian land gives us.

The staff of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business is sincerely grateful to all participantsfor the three-hour discussion, communication and positive mood!

Together to victory! Together – strong!Together we will win!