Ghana to partner IATA to boost hospitality industry

Ghana is to partner the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to help train and build the capacity of the operators in the hospitality industry.

The partnership is a result of a meeting between Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, the Minister of Tourism Culture and Creative Arts and some officials of IATA, held on the sidelines of the just-ended International Tourism Bourse (ITB 2016) in Berlin.

Mr Ivica Kovacici, the Head of training, IATA, said the modules for the training has been expanded from three to six months in the areas of ticketing, hotel reservation and the areas of hospitality.

He said the processes involved in the training would be meticulous to prepare potential students for the tourism market.

Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the Ministry of Tourism was willing to partner a reputable institution like IATA to help train practitioners and young ones willing to take tourism as their main profession.

She said the Ministry was poised in ensuring that the gap in the human resource capacity of practitioners was bridged, adding: “partnership like this is worthy of engaging.”

The IATA is a trade association of the world’s airlines consisting of about 260 airlines, primarily major carriers, representing 117 countries.

IATA supports airline activity and helps formulate industry policy and standards and its member airlines account for carrying approximately 83 per cent of total available seat per kilometre air traffic.

Source: GNA