A health and safety training initiative for the Kenya hospitality sector has been launched by the Kenya Tourism Board and Abta.
The two bodies will collaborate on the long-term initiative which aims to support tourism sector stakeholders to improve health and safety awareness management standards across the country’s hospitality industry.
The first week-long health and safety management training course was run for 12 students at Utalii College in Nairobi. The trainees were selected from a cross section of the tourism sector including representatives from tourism authorities, hotel associations, tourism training schools, the university hospitability education sector and those responsible for hotel quality, safety, operations and licensing.
The candidates were put through an intensive Charted Institute of Environmental Health certified programme on safety and risk management and training skills course. Key elements will be incorporated within established training courses to be used widely throughout the hospitality sector.
KTB managing director Muriithi Ndegwa said: “We are known to be a hospitable nation and we must complement this reputation with professional services in our tourism facilities, I am appealing to hoteliers to continually improve their services so as to meet international standards.”
Abta destination services manager Angela Hills, who led the programme in Nairobi, said: “The project was a great success with 12 really positive delegates who were engaged with the programme right from the start. They deserve a lot of credit for their hard work in the practical exercises and their CIEH examinations.
“We are now looking forward to working with the delegates and the KTB over the next five years to see how the delegates put into practice everything they have learnt as they share their training throughout the economically and socially important Kenyan tourism sector.”
Tourism is Kenya’s second largest industry and the new programme is part of a long-term strategy to develop the knowledge and skills of Kenya’s next generation of employees within the hospitality industry, in order to both improve and maintain high standards of service.