The global tourism industry operates in a dynamic landscape where the pervasive issue of staff shortage remains a significant challenge lately, with many establishments struggling to fill positions.
In Ghana, the situation is particularly acute, and one area where this is most dire is In tour guiding. Not many people regard tour guiding as a career choice.
But, tour guiding can actually be one of the most rewarding career paths that anyone can follow.
Becoming a professional guide can be as fulfilling as any other core hospitality and tourism jobs, with many skilled and experienced personnel advancing to supervisory positions within the corporate environment.
In times past, the most prestigious place to train to become a tourism buff was HOTCATT – the Hotel, Catering & Tourism Training Institute. Everybody wanted to a HOTCATT credential.
Today, the institute is a shadow of its former self. PaJohn Dadson met with the new Acting Director of the institute and asked him what they were doing to ensure the supply of more qualified professionals for the hospitality sector.
A strategic plan, accreditation of programmes and provision of modern training infrastructure, are the key ingredients the leadership hierarchy of the Institute believes are essential for the restoration of HOTCATT to its former glory.
All over the world, there are just not enough qualified hospitality personnel, especially front line operators like customer service representatives and wait staff.
Now, with more and more tour operators springing up to service the increasing numbers of visitors arriving in the country, it has become even more imperative to have people follow hospitality and tourism as a career in order to fill positions.
Tour guiding, for instance, requires the ability to undertake research and decimate accurate information about an area, including related events, features and facts of interest to the group being led.
It is a discipline that also shoulders a great responsibility to project and protect the image of the area, be it a country, community or organization, as the presentation of inaccurate information is detrimental and can lead to serious consequences.
With limited advancement opportunities generally, many positions in the tourism space tends to be of less interest to people who want to work in careers that offer more growth opportunities.
But, tourism is also one discipline where when you are keen, you can transition to establish your own entrepreneurial business, and in turn give opportunities to younger people to get involved in tourism, which is one sector that has the potential to give many people the benefit of earning a living.
HOTCATT offers the overall tourism industry with the best human resource development opportunities in performance standards, techniques, and internationally recognized knowledge in hospitality, catering, and tourism.
“We are working hard to transform the HOTCATT, and return to be the robust, sustainable and impactful leader it once was in training. This requires a strategic plan that promotes visibility, programmes development, and infrastructure,” notes Eric Kofi Afornope, the current Acting Director of the institute.
Established in 1991 under the Ministry of Tourism, HOTCATT was almost solely responsible for providing training and orientation for Ghana Airways’ crews, including stewards, as well as most hotels and government offices.
Over time, more than 20,000 professionals in government hotels and guesthouses, as well as a wide range of tour guides, have all proudly passed through its corridors.
It was the greatest thing to happen to the hospitality industry as it ensured the supply of quality trained professionals in every aspect of the industry from house keeping, customer service, table dining etiquette, food & beverage, restaurant operations to events management, ground handling and tour guiding.
Those were the golden years of the industry. Tourism was just about to take a new turn, a huge leap with the roll out of PANAFEST whose kick off brought a lot of excitement and promise.
New hotels like Novotel, Golden Tulip, Labadi Beach and also La Palm Royal were all established within that period with their accompanying restaurants and other amenities which needed skilled workers. They all absorbed the human capital being groomed by HOTCATT whose reputation was of a top notch hospitality institution that everyone aspired to be associated with.
There were the professional instructors too. Mrs Sunkwa Mills steered the catering curriculum, and people like Cosmos Sracooh and Kweku Passah Snr, impacted many of the young men and women of the time with their knowledge and practical experience in tour guiding.
Time was when it offered the most comprehensive assessment instructional courses that imparted practical skills and knowledge, producing the most competent skilled people who went into practice and brought great professionalism into the field.
In those days, all the top tier tour companies, Sunseekers, Landtours and co, would bend over backwards to acquire and retain their own in-house guides, all of whom were trained at HOTCATT.
Never adequately funded and equipped to carry its modest mandate, the institute today is but a shadow of its former self, having undergone the usual routine of casual treatment given to most agencies under government.
It had a simple mandate “to develop and enhance qualified manpower in the tourism and hospitality industry.”
The idea for the institution to plan, review and update programs to meet industry needs and standards, collaborating with hotels, restaurants, and tourism operators for internships, mentorship, and job placement opportunities could all be eroded if more attention is not paid to HOTCATT.
It is even supposed to lead in the service excellence charge to develop a ‘Service Delivery Standard’ to guide training and practice within the sector. Again, its mission of organizing mobile training for lower to middle-level staff in the tourism and hospitality industry, are all under threat.
Everything came crushing when the COVID pandemic struck. With the hospitality sector the most affected during that pandemic, the cracks of neglect over the years, and the lack of accredited programs, led to the institution becoming a shell of its former self.
All that notwithstanding, one way or other, the catering faculty, in particular, as well as tour guiding programs have forged ahead and graduated many young folks.
The impact of COVID-19, unsociable hours, and limited growth opportunities, among others have been the main factors that have led to the lack of effective interest in people wishing to work in the hospitality sector.
Even in jurisdictions where a tipping culture persists, and young people are often able to raise a bit more money to pay for their college and other bills, statistics indicate a decline in the number of people applying for hospitality jobs.
“We are determined to transform to meet current competition and demands. We have recently received CTVET Accreditation and developed a 5year Strategic Plan, towards a sustained performance. Our next step is to gain access to critical programs from the international organizations like UN-Tourism etc, which will complement the Institute’s efforts to offer On-Demand and Short Courses to various levels of professionals in hotels, culinary arts, and tour guiding,” asserts Eric, whose enthusiasm shines through as he speaks.
“We need to involve all stakeholders in the development of the professional training and certification and we have already begun this with the Associations under GHATOF.”
The transition to offer a more advanced professional qualifications and certificates requires patience. And investment. And government needs to, as a matter of urgency, if it is as serious about building human resource capacity as it says, provide the ministry with the necessary resources and tools to equip HOTCATT to fulfill its mission.
As tourism gains traction, HOTCATT’s impact will only go to enhance destination Ghana’s product and ensure that the country remains competitive.
