Focus areas included food and beverage service, hotel front office operations, improving the customer experience, the role of information technology in the hospitality industry, and industry-specific communication skills. In addition to this, emphasis were placed on the growing importance of the role of women in hospitality and how their inclusion will enable Rwanda to meet its tourism development goals.
This training is made possible through international cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and Rwanda, via a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Rwanda Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on 8 March 2018 on International Women’s Day. The UAE Embassy in Kigali and Rwanda Development Board coordinated technical and logistical support for the programme.
The three-day training will be delivered by experts from the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, an educational institution situated in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and internationally recognized for its Hospitality Management degree programmes and for its Educational Consultancy and Training and Development Services.
The UAE Ambassador to Rwanda, HE Hazza Mohammed Falah Kharsan Al Qahtani, indicated that “the United Arab Emirates is impressed by the Rwandan Government’s Policy of promoting gender equality and empowering women across all sectors”.
He reiterated that “the UAE will support this endeavor in the tourism and hospitality industry, which is a major potential growth area for both job-creation and income-generation for a number of countries across the world, especially Rwanda. Rwanda has demonstrated its world-class ability to promote women’s empowerment by achieving the highest number of women parliamentarians worldwide. We believe that Rwanda will be able to apply this ability to empower women to the hospitality industry with similar levels of success. The UAE is honored to play a role in helping Rwanda further develop this capacity, through sharing our own experience in this area, which will ultimately help to increase both the quantity and the quality of tourism to Rwanda.
The Rwanda Development Board’s Chief Tourism Officer, Ms. Belise Kariza said, “Rwanda has made tremendous strides in the tourism industry over the years, but there are areas that require more improvement, such as increasing the quality of service delivery. This training will go the extra mile in improving Rwanda’s tourism and hospitality industry in terms of delivering exceptional services. Thanks to our partnership with the UAE, the training will bridge skill gaps in the industry, helping us to reach our national annual target of US$ 800 million by 2024.” She noted,
“The figures of women in the Rwandan business world are increasing. If Rwanda is to achieve its tourism development goals, then women will need to play a greater role. Historically, there have been negative perceptions of women working in the hospitality industry, the time is right for women to be empowered so that they can move into positions as industry leaders.” Kariza said
The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management indicated that it is an honor and a privilege that the Academy is able to be invited to participate in the three-day training programme in Rwanda “Empowering 100 Women Future Leaders in Hospitality Excellence”.
The Emirates Academy of Hospitality is known for its knowledge and excellence within the field of Hospitality Management education. With the significant development of Tourism and Hospitality in Rwanda, it is important to develop the necessary hospitality skills that are required to deliver excellence within this sector. In addition, through further training initiatives to continuously develop, support and empower women in this sector, it will increase and promote women leaders entering this exciting hospitality industry.
The training can and should play a strategic role in increasing awareness of key roles available to women and future leaders. The trainers, Helen Morris, Executive Chef / Senior Lecturer and Marina Rizzi, Director of Industry Relations and International Office, have extensive experience in the field of global hospitality and look forward to sharing their knowledge and experience at this important training programme to inspire women, future leaders.
The Rwandan constitution states that women should be represented in a minimum of 30% of all government occupations. The current Rwandan parliament is composed of 60% of women representatives, positioning Rwanda as the country with the highest number of women parliamentarians worldwide.
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