By Eunice Hilda Ampomah, GNA
Accra, July 13, GNA – The Ministry of Tourism,
Arts & Culture (MoTAC) has re-opened the Hotel, Catering & Tourism
Training Institute (HOTCATT), an Educational Establishment in Accra to provide
students with capacity building experience and skills in the Tourism,
Hospitality and Catering sectors.
The Institute was re-opened to offer courses
in Front Office Skills, Food and Beverage Service, House Keeping Skills, Travel
and Tourism, Tour Guiding, and Industry Leadership.
Mrs Catherine Abelema Afeku, Minister of
Tourism, Arts & Culture addressing the media at the event, encouraged
entities in the hospitality, catering and tourism industry to enrol their staff
for refresher courses at a discount, adding that, since they pay levies, they
should benefit from it.
She noted that the Sector has discussed with
institutions in the industry about enrolling their staff at the Institute, and
they accepted the recommendation.
“The levy is protected by Act 817 of the
Tourism Act and it enjoins all hospitality industries to pay one per cent of
their profit. We are ensuring that all hospitable institutions, especially the
newly established ones that have not been registered get registered”, she said.
Mrs Abelema Afeku said the reopening and
revamping of the school was to improve the skills of the actors in the industry
to put Ghana on the world tourism map and be recognised.
She said: “We have everything from hotels to
beaches, to floral, culture and festivals but what we lack is excellent
customer service; therefore the school is coming in to meet that acute need and
we are very confident that within six to 12 weeks, we would have trained people
with professional customer care deliveries.
The Minister stressed that the Institution is
going to provide quality training and skills in a manner that if one visits a
hotel, the attitude and demeanour of a staff should be able to tell the visitor
instantly that the staff is a HOTCATT trainee because he or she has come out
with a modicum of professional skills in the industry.
“They also need to have knowledge about the
tourist sites in the country. Supposing a visitor asks you, what can I do in
Accra tonight? And you say I don’t know, you’ve already lost the customer. Also
one’s whole body language should be welcoming”, she noted.
Madam Jenny Adade, Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of HOTCATT speaking at the event said the vision of the Institute is to
become the chosen leading professional skills training institute on the African
Continent.
She said the minimum entry qualification into
the Institute are Senior High School certificate holders, Diploma Certificate
Holders, Industry Workers and individuals who want to change their careers.
Madam Adade said there would be compulsory
areas such as Professional Appearance or Grooming, Service Excellence and
Complaint Handling, adding that, emphasis would be placed on practical
application for effective transferred learning, using various media in order to
appeal to the different learning styles of students.
The Institute has a nine member Board made up
of Dr Ziblim Barri Iddi, Deputy Minister of MoTAC as Chairman; Mr Alex Kofi
Agyekum, Member of Parliament (MP) for Mpohor Constituency; Mr Manish Nambiar,
General Manager of Kempinski Hotel; Mr Ato Panford, MP for Shama Constituency;
and Madam Jenny Adade of HOTCATT.
Other members of the Board are Okatakyie Nana
Anim I, Sanaahene of Ati Amanfrom; Mr Akwasi Agyeman, CEO of Ghana Tourism
Authority; Mr Frank Apeagyei, Advisor to MoTAC; and Madam Vida Sunkwa-Mills,
Member of Advisory Board, HOTCATT.
HOTCATT was initially designed by the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) to train all categories and levels of
personnel employed to work in Hotels, Catering Institutes and the Travel and
Tour Operations.
The Government of Ghana and the United Nations
Development Programme are providing funding, with technical assistance from the
International Labour Organisation. It was established in 1991.
GNA