The
Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment Wednesday
launched the hospitality security training programme, at a ceremony held at The
Gambia Tourism and Hospitality Institute (GTHI).
The
training course aims at creating professionally-trained hospitality security
officers for the industry that will complement service deliveries and product
offerings.
Organised
by the Ministry of Trade, it was funded by the UNDP Country Programme Action
Plan (CPAP).
In
his launching statement, Mamadi Dampha of the Ministry of Trade said this is a
pilot project for the tourism hospitality industry.
He
thanked the management of GHTI for coming up with such an initiative, which is
an “innovation in tourism security”.
He also thanked the Minister of Youth and
Sports for the collaboration, particularly in the identification of 24 youths
targeted for the training course.
Mr
Dampha also thanked the UNDP for funding the training course, saying they are
always supportive of the ministry.
The
overall objective is to bring about transformation in the tourism industry for
effective communication with customers, and with industry operators, he said.
The
programme was designed to provide a convenient venue for training on
hospitality security with the support of The Gambia National Youth Council for
the 24 young school leavers.
Abdoulie
Hydara, director general of Gambia Tourism Board, thanked all the stakeholders
for the training course, saying “tourism is a real sector, and is the biggest
economic sector” for The Gambia.
He
added that tourism provides huge employment directly and indirectly to the
country, and that “the beauty of tourism is that it reduces poverty at the
quick response”.
Security
is fundamental in maintaining success in tourism, he continued.
“Security
is fundamental factor for choice of a holiday, particularly at a time when we
have witnessed several incidents across the world in various well-known
destinations destabilised by mere lack of security or inadequate security,” Mr
Hydara said.
The
training programme was a welcome move at the right time, he said, adding that
in tourism there are many positive sides to it, but there are also some aspects
that need control, which necessitated the training of people in the industry
and the involvement of security personnel.
“I
mean quality service delivery through the training and provision of quality
human capital. If we are able to do this, then it is a step further in
developing our tourism industry,” the GTBoard director-general said.
