NIHOTOUR Matriculates over 500 fresh trainees and students

 NIHOTOUR Matriculates over 500 fresh trainees and students Nationwide for 2020/2021 academic session

A total number of 500 trainees and  students in nine campuses took the Matriculation Oath for 2020/2021 academic session during the Matriculation ceremony of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (Nihotour) recently held in Abuja.

In his opening speech, the Director-General of Nihotour Alhaji Nura Kangiwa congratulated the new students for their admission into the Institute to study professional occupational skills development for career ladder building.

He disclosed that NIHOTOUR Is one of the most rated projects of the UNDP/ILO and Nigeria Government  for professional travel, hospitality, and tourism  training services as well as research in the Country.

In his word, "more importantly, our tuition fees are the least among tertiary institutions in Nigeria".The management subsidizes fees of students  in this Institute to attract the less privileged towards empowering the youth and also providing avenues for professional  organizations to access capacity building for their agencies".

" we on our part are doing all we can within the resources  available to maintain the needed conducive instructional, teaching, and learning environment  for your smooth training  and studies".

The Director-General admonished the fresh trainees and students to use their youthful energies positively to enhance the growth and development of the Institute and not to bring shame and bad publicity to damage the good image the Institute is known for.

He further advised them to adhere strictly  to the rules and the regulations of the school, participate actively in all the activities. He added that they should be committed  to learning and studies with an expectation of finishing with good results.

While speaking on the theme  BUILDING CAPACITY TO MEET THE TRAVEL, HOSPITALITY, AND TOURISM INDUSTRY SKILLS GAP FOR QUALITY SERVICE DELIVERY IN NIGERIA, the FTAN President Mr. Nkereuwem Onung commended the Director-General, Alhaji. Nura Sani Kangiwa, for his passionate leadership and unwavering quest to sustain the position of NIHOTOUR as a leading global brand to be reckoned with.

In his word, "We appreciate what you are doing and the many lives you are changing and growing positively"

" A few years back, students of tourism and hospitality were laughed at for not choosing more serious career paths".

Jobs in the sector were not taken seriously and building a career in the industry was not regarded as an option at all".

"A few years down the line, we are here today celebrating with the new students who are interested in pursuing a career in the travel, hospitality and tourism".

"I am deliberate in using the words Travel, Hospitality and Tourism here because it is time we draft the contributions of the Aviation and Transport sector into the calculation of Tourism contributions to GDP in Nigeria".

The President expressed that the world has entered a phase that is popularly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution. A period characterized by the technological revolution that is massively reshaping and transforming the way industries, communities and societies operate and engage or relate with each other.

He said the travel, hospitality, and tourism industry is right in the middle of this as it is largely labour intensive.

Mr.Nkereuwem Onung explained  that travel, hospitality and tourism industry’s potential to realize growth and make significant contributions to the economic development of communities around the globe mainly hinges on one condition: its ability to rapidly fill hundreds of thousands of new positions with qualified people. The industry is particularly dependent on its ability to hire young men and women ages 17–25, who make up the largest share of employees in the industry.

"The World Travel & Tourism Council has recently warned that COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a cut 50 million jobs worldwide in the travel and tourism industry".

"Going forward, the nature of travel, hospitality and tourism businesses will change to functioning with only qualified manpower and more efficient operations, where a balance between smart and skilled labour is sought after".

 "Our dear matriculants, while NIHOTOUR is performing its duties of providing you with an adequate level of quality education, it is imperative for you to know that increasingly, educators and employers are finding that for young people to succeed in today’s rapidly changing and globalized world, they need an educational foundation that includes more than just academic and technical skills. You critically need life and employability skills as a way to prepare you to be motivated and confident decision-makers who can overcome adversity and realize your potential".

"At this point, we encourage you all to develop a career vision to chart a career path in this sector. This entails accepting responsibility for how far you want to go. The vision must be clear, you must acquire the competence required while expecting definite constraints that creativity and concentration will deliver. You will need courage and continuous action to arrive at teamwork".

"The importance of life skills for the travel, hospitality, and tourism industry cannot be overstated. It is not unusual for entry-level staff in a hotel to interact daily with hundreds of people with different cultural backgrounds, languages, service expectations, and needs. Travel, Hospitality, and Tourism industry workers must be able to rapidly adapt to accommodate a degree of diversity unheard of in other lines of work".

"As a Federation (FTAN), we shall be introducing our vision of "FTAN 500K CARES" by 2025. CARES means Career Assisted Resources for Employability, a scheme in partnership with M8 Global Know Network. It is expected that by 2025, about 500,000 young workforces in Travel, Hospitality and Tourism sector will be trained using Technology and modern vocational education training methods".

FTAN President appealed to all practitioners in the industry to join hands with NIHOTOUR as a matter of urgency and necessity to encourage upskilling, re-skilling and continuous education as a means to building capacity to meet travel, hospitality, and tourism industry skills gap for quality service delivery in Nigeria.

FTAN MEDIA TEAM.