Hind Management, the company behind Sudima Hotels, is bolstering its support of rangatahi entering the hotel industry as a career by launching a brand-new Hotel Internship Program, which is designed to empower and uplift Māori and Pacific youth who are ready to make their mark in hospitality.
The initiative gets underway as the tourism and hospitality industry continues to address its skills shortage, notably among youth.
The Jhunjhnuwala Family / Hind Management Māori and Pacific Youth Scholarship 2025 provides an exciting opportunity for aspiring Māori and Pacific hospitality leaders. The internships are carried out in any of one of the group’s eight properties around the country.
Hands-On Hotel Experience
The initiative is aimed at attracting Māori and Pacific youth who are not currently in paid employment, education or training to provide exciting hands-on experience in hotel operations, mentorship from industry experts, a safe, supportive and inclusive environment, and competitive incentives to ensure internees thrive both professionally and personally.
Internships include experience with customer service and hotel operations while providing insights into hotel sustainability and nurturing confidence, connection and leadership skills and encouraging further studies in hospitality with paid hourly wage, travel stipend and a cash incentive upon completion.
The program builds on Hind Management’s efforts over many years to prioritise diversity, inclusion and Manaakitanga, and promote indigenous leadership pathways within the industry.
Fundamental To Future Success
Founder and CEO of Sudima Hotels and Hind Management, Sudesh Jhunjhnuwala, says “This is one small step in the support needed for our Māori and Pacific youth who are fundamental to our country’s hospitality and tourism sector – they are the very fabric of Aotearoa and its future success.
“We are first and foremost a people business and it’s my lifelong mission to promote diversity, inclusion and accessibility, along with wellbeing and lifelong learning while leaving the planet in a better place than we found it. We’re proud of our latest national scholarship, and we invite eligible candidates to apply.”
The new Māori and Pacific Youth Scholarship follows in the footsteps of the Ngāti Whakaue Sudima Hotels Scholarship Programme which has been in place since 2014. A joint venture with Sudima Hotels, those scholarships are available to Ngāti Whakaue descendants to assist them to obtain training, employment, and junior leadership positions with Sudima Hotels and achieve qualifications in various hospitality areas.
Inaugural Ngāti Whakaue Scholarship recipient, Awatere Douglas (29), who is the Hotel Manager at Sudima Lake Rotorua, and the cultural advisor to the Sudima Hotels group, says, “The support of my whānau along with the scholarship and many mentors came together to change my world. That’s what these scholarships are all about. I was able to study for tertiary qualifications in tourism and Te Ao Māori and have never looked back.
Bring Rangatahi Into Hospitality
“This new scholarship is a brilliant growth platform to bring more rangatahi into hospitality which is a wonderful, rewarding career. It’s a great moment to jump on our hospitality-tourism waka and you can uplift and inspire your whānau, community and the nation. I encourage Māori and Pacific youth to take the first step – Nau mai, haere mai, tauti mai!”
Among multiple DEI initiatives and awards, Hind Management was awarded HRD’s Five Star Employer of Choice Award for 2019, 2022 and 2024 and HRNZ Building Sustainability through People award 2024. Since Mr. Jhunjhnuwala founded the national hotel group in 2000, Sudima Hotels has maintained a friendly, family-focused culture and a flat structure to empower employees to grow, share ideas and try new things. This month a news story covered Mr. Jhunjhnuwala’s support for exploited migrants.
The Māori and Pacific Youth Scholarship is open to NZ residents (16-24 years) of Māori and Pacific descent who are pursuing an hotel or hospitality career and seeking further studies in hotel, hospitality management, events, or tourism studies or recent graduates of these studies (within 6 months of graduation).
The paid internships are for either three months (intakes in February & October) or six months (commencing from October 2025), and applications close Monday 27 January 2025.
Aspiring Māori and Pacific Hospitality leaders can read more details about the Māori and Pacific Youth Scholarship for 2025, and make an application here.
