First Yemeni Hotel Institute to open

By Abdul-Aziz Oudah & Adnan Hizam
Dec 10, 2005 - Vol.VIII Issue 48

SANA’A - Yemen’s first hotel training center, the National Hotel and Tourism Institute (NAHOTI), is to open in Sana’a next April. It is hoped that the two million Euros project, funded by European Union, will give a vital boost to tourism services in Yemen.

Last week, a meeting was held stakeholders to discuss the Public-Private Partnership structure to be adopted by the NAHOTI project.

The meeting was attended by Abdullah Jobari, the deputy minister for technical education and vocational training, Nabil al-Faqih, the deputy minister for Culture and Tourism as well as officials from the European Union and representatives from the planning ministry and private sector.

Jobari praised the efforts of the EU in supporting the tourism sector to cope with the requirements of development in Yemen, and called on the private sector to contribute to carry out tourist projects. Kai Partale, Senior Consultant at the European Commission for the project, reviewed the current state of the project, including the training of the staff who will work in the institute.

The participants discussed the best means of running the institute in accordance with the international standards. Al-Faqih, in a statement to the Yemen Observer, said that the meeting was to discuss support for the project through the establishment of a consultative committee in the institute.

The meeting recommended sending a suggestion to the planning and international cooperation ministry to set up a trustees’ council for the institute.

Soon, the steps of financially running the institute will be discussed, and maybe the institute will be ran by international companies or the Yemeni private sector,” Al-Faqih said.

He added that the institute is first of its kind in Yemen, saying that the goal of setting up the institute is to improve the tourist services sector, and to equip young people in Yemen with the necessary modern hotel skills.

Alwan al-Shaibani, the chairman of the Yemeni Union for Hotels, said that the private sector should be active partner in the project, as it would be the first beneficiary from the gradates of institute.

The private sector should participate in the management of the institute and suggestion of curricula,’ he said.

Partale said that the project intends to strengthen the institutional capacity of Yemen's vocational training system through the construction of a new training institute.

He added that it includes the introduction of a demand driven education within the six key occupations: front office, housekeeping, food and beverage, food production, tour guiding and tour operation, as well as strengthening existing performance capacity by improving the trainer’s qualifications, curricula and training materials.