A HUNDRED women involved in tourism and hospitality on Monday commenced a three-day training workshop with facilitators from the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, a Dubai based hospitality centre of excellence.

Tourism and hospitality establishments have often been criticised for providing poor quality customer services.

The training aims to impart world-class skills in tourism and hospitality with a focus on customer excellence in hospitality, technical skills related to food and beverage service and management, as well as hotel front office operations.

Some of the trainers from the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management at the start of the training.

It will also focus on bringing the players’ attention to the role of information technology in the hospitality industry, industry-specific communication skills as well as the role of women in improving service delivery.

This vocational training, titled ‘Empowering 100 Women Future Leaders in Hospitality Excellence’, follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in March last year.

Rwanda Development Board (RDB) Chief Tourism Officer, Belise Kariza, indicated that much as the country has made some strides in the tourism industry over the years, there were areas that still required improvement.

"This training will further improve Rwanda’s tourism and hospitality industry in terms of delivering exceptional services. Thanks to our partnership with the UAE, the training will bridge the skills gap in the tourism industry,” she said in a statement.

For Hazza Mohammed Falah Kharsan Al Qahtani, the UAE Ambassador to Rwanda, his government was impressed by the Rwandan government’s policy of promoting gender equality and especially empowering women in all sectors, and they were looking to support this drive.

"We want to support this endeavour in the tourism and hospitality industry which is a major contributor of both job creation and income generation for many countries including Rwanda,” he noted.

His hope was to use the ability applied to empower more women in political space – women parliamentarians among others – to equally empower women in the hospitality industry.

"The UAE is honoured to play a role in helping Rwanda further develop this capacity, through sharing our own experience in this area, which will ultimately help to increase both the quantity and the quality of tourism to Rwanda,” the Ambassador noted.

The Emirates Academy of Hospitality is known for its excellence within the field of Hospitality Management education.

The trainers, Helen Morris, Executive Chef / Senior Lecturer and Marina Rizzi, Director of Industry Relations and International Office, have extensive experience in the field of global hospitality.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com