ARTICLE - HOTEL & TOURISM TRAINING

INAUGURATION OF THE INSTITUTE OF HOTEL AND TOURISM TRAINING
(Haiti Libre) -

Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism has proceeded earlier this week to officially inaugurate the new premises of the Institute of Hotel and Tourism Training of Haiti (Institut de Formation Hôtelière et Touristique d'Haïti - IFORHTH) [#14 Impasse Lavaud]. In her statement the Minister of Tourism declared "...it is with great emotion that I proceed today to the reopening of our school of Hotel and Tourism. It is indeed for the Ministry of Tourism, a major act of reconstruction, as it is .... the formation of our human resources. We begin this new year with the construction and opening of new hotels, created by both foreign and domestic groups among the most prestigious, who represent the confidence placed in the tourism industry in Haiti.

Every time I announce a battle won, the signing of a new memorandum of understanding, I knew that the victory was incomplete. Because the most important remains to be done, having the appropriate training conditions for the establishment of an Institute of Hotel and Tourism Training, capable of responding to a request for qualified personnel. Finally we have arrived safely, with the reopening of our Institute. Everyone can understand, while listening to those who preceded me in this pulpit, that it was a collective work, of an exemplary partnership between the public, the private sector and international partners.

This synergy of wills obtained, testifies to the approach that we must resolutely take to rebuild our country; knowing exactly what we want in a planned, programmed manner, to finally generate project management and achieve, as today, our goals. It will be necessary that you ensure the essential requirements: firstly a training of quality with a curriculum and diplomas which are constantly adapting to market changes, considering that our domestic market is already in the selection criteria, a component of the international market. A second challenge is to have a training that meets the needs of businesses, with new courses targeted that will be implemented from March 2012 to accommodate the existing staff in tourist establishments. You will need also, to bring a new educational approach that will make of the student, an actor in his training with a constant interplay of teaching and learning, where the emphasis will be placed on the transition of the knowledge toward the know-how.

We will make every effort to facilitate internships and training abroad to ensure their direct contact with the changes of the world and updating their knowledge..."