The Plateau State Government has said it will partner with the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) in training skilled manpower for the tourism industry.
This is as the government stressed its determination to develop people who will effectively harness and provide quality service delivery to grow the enormous tourism potentials that the state has.
Governor of the state, Samuel Lalung made this statement on Monday at a workshop themed, Promoting Eco- Tourism and Hiking in Nigeria organized by NIHOTOUR on Tour Guide Operations for Tour Operators, Tour Guides, Hikers and other stakeholders in the tourism sector in Jos, Plateau State.
He also said that the vast tourism potentials of the state can best be tapped, managed and made economically beneficial to the people when personnel running the sector are adequately trained in the various operational trades of the industry.
The Governor who was represented by the Special Adviser on Entrepreneurship and job Creation, Hon. Barrister Samuel Kwamkur, said, it is the desire of the Plateau State Government to have NIHOTOUR establish a training centre in the state for the training of skilled personnel in all facets of tourism and hospitality trades.
This will further boost and promote tourism and hospitality industry, a sector that the state is best known for nationwide as the ‘Home of Peace, Tourism and Hospitality’ he said.
Also speaking,the Director General of NIHOTOUR, Nura Sani Kangiwa noted the importance of tourism in terms of the state being one of the highest employer of labour and job creation globally, stressing that to optimally benefit from the business opportunities offered by the tourism industry, operators of the sector must be adequately trained on the requisite skills which is what NIHOTOUR was established to accomplish.
Kangiwa stated further that the Institute has since its establishment been in the forefront in providing trained and skilled manpower that is driving the country’s Travel Tourism and hospitality industry, achieving the best 10 International Air Travel Association (IATA) training centres in Africa, an Affiliate Member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Coordinator of Hospitality and Tourism Sector Skill Council of Nigeria among many others.
The Director General therefore called on practitioners as well as new entrants of the travel tourism and hospitality industry trades to seize the opportunity offered by NIHOTOUR to train and acquire the necessary skills for optimal performance in quality service delivery.
