By Priscilla Osaje
The National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), says it is organising entrepreneurship training for youths and women across the 36 states of the Federation.
The Director-General (D-G) of NIHOTOUR, Alhaji Nura Kangiwa, disclosed this in a statement signed by his Special Technical Assistant, Mr Joesef Karim, on Thursday in Abuja.
According to Kangiwa, the training tagged “Sustainable Tourism Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP)” is an innovative training and empowerment programme on tourism and hospitality, small business start-ups, and sustainable operations in Nigeria.
The NIHOTOUR boss added that the programme was novel and designed to train, equip and mentor trainees on hands-on skills and entrepreneurial capabilities for successful operations of small businesses.
He said participants would be trained on the tourism industry value-chain such as; cookery, pastry, confectionery, tour operations, tour guiding, and travel agency operations bordering on ticketing and reservations.
“The project aims at growing the economic activities of Nigeria in their respective locations for the growth of income and savings by local residents.
“It will help to increase growth in employment opportunities, increased number of self employment and development of areas of tourism sites and businesses,” he said.
He further said that the training was targeted at young girls and women who were single, married or widowed, and vulnerable youths who were either orphans, abandoned or school drop-outs.
The D-G listed others to include the physically challenged persons, internally displaced Persons, unemployed and jobless graduates of tertiary institutions.
He explained that the STEP project would be hosted across Nigeria’s six-geopolitical zones.
“The Programme would take place within three consecutive calendar months; one month of class work, two months of apprenticeship, practical training and mentorship.
“It will be at private tourism business organisations within the jurisdiction of NIHOTOUR training mandate, and the Hospitality and Tourism Sector Skills Council of Nigeria (HTSSCN).
“The programme will also run on Nigeria’s National Skills Qualification (NSQ) framework, which is offered and designed based on the resolutions and validation of the various sub-sectors stakeholders.
“The award of Level three qualification requires the learner to achieve 36 Credit Units or 360 Guided Learning Hours,” he said.
Kangiwa said the project was billed to kick-off by Nov. 28, at NIHOTOURS’s Abuja campus. with invitations extended to industry and multilateral stakeholders, including representatives of the World Bank, ILO, and UNESCO.
Others were UNWTO, ECOWAS, Foreign Embassies in Nigeria, NGOs, CSOs, Humanitarian and Social Development agencies in Nigeria.
The director said that the project was in-line with the well
documented objectives of the UN Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) programmes, related to the
delivery of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
NAN reports that NIHOTOUR is an organisation under the Ministry of Information & Culture, engaged in training, consultancy, research and publications, in order to promote skills and entrepreneurship courses and programmes.
The Institute has played a pivotal role in building an entrepreneurial ecosystem, not only in Nigeria, but in other countries through international training and development programmes. (NAN)