The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has granted the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust (HTTIT) situated at the Fairview Hotel its UNWTO.TedQual Certification. This has been revealed by Zambia’s Ambassador to France His Excellency Ambassador Chilu Chibanda who is also Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the World Tourism Organisation. This came to light this morning when His Excellency received a letter of notification on behalf of the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust from UNWTO Themis Foundation.
UNWTO.TedQual Certification system was created to encourage, at worldwide level, the improvement of the quality of tourism education, training and research program through the definition of a set of minimum standards of quality for tourism education.
To this end, the system takes into consideration five areas of analysis that evaluate internal and external aspects of the Programmes offered by the tourism training institutions: the coherence of the plan of studies; infrastructure and pedagogical support; policies, tools and support mechanisms for administrative management; the existence of transparent mechanisms for the selection of the faculty and favourable conditions for their professional development; and the relevance of the content of the programme of studies with respect to the needs of the tourism sector.
Ambassador Chibanda revealed that for the past two years the Zambian Mission in Paris which is also responsible for UNWTO activities has been working tirelessly with the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust to get this certification of its training programs. The Ambassador revealed that this year in June, UNWTO sent their TedQual Certification auditors to Zambia who subjected the training institution to their rigorous audit of which the results have just come out now.
HTTI becomes the second tourism training institution in Africa to get this certification after Utalii College in Kenya. What this means is that students who pass through the HTTIT will have internationally recognised qualifications and will be well accepted around the world for further training opportunities of employment. Further, the students and staff at HTTIT will also stand a chance to benefit from scholarships and training exchange opportunities that are offered by other institutions who have the same certification.
Ambassador Chibanda says government is excited about this development as it will contribute to the development of the tourism industry in Zambia.
