In the past months, extensive talks have taken place between the Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) and the Association for Upper Egypt for Education and Development (AUEED), in which ways of collaborating the ETFs tourism training expertise with the facilities offered at the AUEED Training Center premises in Abu Qurqas.

The Abu Qurqas Training Center, recognized as having a key role in Upper Egypt's civil society, comprises of a skills teaching center with 8 classrooms and a 36-room vocational training hotel. The AUEED also has a further 25 such centers nationwide, although areas for training are currently predominant in the Al Minya area.

The concept was instigated by the Spanish Government’s express willingness to contribute to the development of the current training center. Since their first meeting at the AUEED headquarters in September 2008, the ETF delegation and the AUEED were in agreement to start a pilot training project. In the months that followed, the parties agreed finer details of how this cooperation will take place and decided on which human resources areas most commonly require additional skill development.

Accordingly, the Spanish Government, through the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) in Cairo, has agreed to allocate EURO 190,000 as funding for the project. The AUEED will remain the owner of the premises, will provide assistance and support for all development related activities, and will avail staff members for the everyday maintenance and non-academic related tasks. The ETF, aided with financial support from the Ministry of Tourism, will be responsible for recruitment of teaching staff including selection, relocation and fund salaries. In addition, the ETF will devise special sponsorship and grant schemes with an explicit grant created for female students.

Subsequently, the project at the Abu Qurqas Training Center will now commence with CSHG contracted by the ETF and AUEED to manage the development of the Center in order for it to become an operational school for training hospitality students. CSHG’s responsibilities include renovation of the center along with its vocational training hotel and the training rooms, analysis and research, design and organization of the school, course programs, staff needs, train the trainers program development, local awareness programs, and business feasibility and marketing plan.

The initial training itself is planned to encompass training 25 persons over a 3- to 6-month period, in the areas of Housekeeping, Room Service, Kitchen and Hospitality and Cleanliness. The educational program will be structured to provide the right skills necessary for young trainees to begin work at basic job levels in restaurants and hotels.

A board of trustees will be assigned – representing the Ministry of Tourism, ETF, the Foundation, and prominent businessmen from the tourism sector situated in the Red Sea – with the responsibility of providing necessary support for the success of the project, including renovation of the facility and providing employment opportunities at Red Sea resorts for the trainees upon graduation.

The success of this pilot project will lead to further agreements for programs to be introduced in other remote areas where vocational skill development is required.