Tourism: plans to improve hospitality skills in Egypt

Egyptian Gazette (Ahmed Kamel)

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Egyptian Minister of Tourism Zoheir Garranah attended the signing of an agreement by chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) Ahmed el-Nahas and Thomas Kline, director of executive education at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration late Sunday.

"Our agreement with Cornell is at the heart of our mission to invest in quality human resource development in the tourism industry," Garranah told the gala. Under the terms of the agreement, Cornell will offer five courses in el-Gouna, Red Sea Governorate, 450km from Cairo, starting in December. Forty general managers of hotels of 3, 4 and 5-star ratings will be selected to attend the courses, which focus on hospitality, administration and high performance of financial management.

"The courses will provide opportunities for Egyptian hotel professionals to learn cutting-edge management theory, the best practices in the hospitality industry as well as the strategic and tactical application of these elements," Kline told a gathering on the same occasion.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism will cover 40 per cent of participants' tuition fees. According to the agreement, those who wish to enroll on Cornell's online learning will pay only $2,500 instead of $6,000.

"The programme will provide Egyptian hospitality workers with the education opportunities offered by the Cornell HotelSchool with substantial savings and without having to travel all the way across the Atlantic," el-Nahas said.

Tourism earned Egypt $7.6 billion and created jobs for at least 12 per cent of the Egyptian labour force. "About 9.1 million tourists visited Egypt last year, spending 89 million nights," Garranah said.