Cairo, Egypt: Actively involved in career progression for tourism industry employees, the Human Resources Development and Training Unit at the Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) has successfully offered development skills for employees in various areas, announces ETF Chairman, Mr. Ahmed El-Nahas.

Since being established in 2001, the Unit has trained over 75,915 persons, with a 70% increase in the last three years. Lead by Human Resources and Training Consultant Mr. Hussein Badran, the Training Unit offers many diverse training programs with new curriculums being designed for various fields of expertise and levels.

One such project is to enhance skills of Hotel Department Heads, Assistant Department Heads, Front Office, Food and Beverage, Stewarding and Housekeeping Departments along with training courses for security staff from department heads and supervisors. Compatibility of these courses with international standards will be achieved through reviewing and comparing the educational material with that of the American Hotel and Lodging Association Educational Institute (AH&LA – EI) and applying modifications to fit the goals of the program.

The Training Unit is also working in cooperation with International Development Ireland (IDI) on four new training courses; ‘Creativity and Marketing’, ‘Leadership and Human Resources’, ‘Operational Hotel Finance’ and ‘Profitability Strategies and Service Excellence’. It is also working on another training course in Marketing to Develop Department Heads and Upper Management skills.

But the Unit is not just focusing on efforts for hotel employees. Ways to improve craftsmen capabilities for tourism commodities such as those individual who hand make leather, copper and woven carpets is also underway, and it is structuring programs for tourism establishments, currently for Restaurant Managers and Owners, in areas like ‘Food Cost Control’ , ‘Planning and Designing Restaurant Menus’ and ‘Service Techniques’.

Other educational institutes in Egypt do not offer such specialized tourism courses, setting the ETF Human Resources and Training Unit as a pioneer in industry human resources development.