A three-day training workshop for 100 women tourism and hospitality professionals led by experts from the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, a Dubai based hospitality centre of excellence has been concluded yesterday.

This vocational training, titled ‘Empowering 100 Women Future Leaders in Hospitality Excellence’, followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Rwanda Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on 8 March 2018.

The training, which took place in Nyamata, Bugesera District, aimed to impart world class skills in tourism and hospitality and the focus was on technical skills related to food and beverage service and management, hotel front office operations, customer excellence in hospitality, the role of information technology in the hospitality industry, industry specific communication skills as well as the role of women in improving service delivery.

Speaking during the closing ceremony, Guest of Honor, Minister of Education, Dr. Eugène Mutimura said:

“The fact that Rwanda and the UAE are implementing the MoU signed in 2018 by training 100 women in the tourism and hospitality sector is a clear testament of the strong bilateral cooperation between the two countries. We continue to work together in various sectors including trade and investment, education and hospitality and tourism.

It is worth mentioning that tourism is Rwanda’s largest source of foreign exchange earnings and has grown at a rate of 25% since 2013.  The knowledge and skills the trainees gained during these three days are of great importance to the continued growth of the industry.”

The RDB Chief Tourism Officer, Belise Kariza said:

“Rwanda recognizes the tourism industry as one of the key promising sectors under the National Strategy for Transformation that contributes to the creation of more off-farm jobs and poverty reduction. We are delighted that 100 Rwandan women have benefitted from this training which we believe has equipped them with indispensable skills on diverse functions within the hospitality sector. We also believe that this training will yield positive results in terms of improving customer care and services delivery as we continue to position Rwanda as a global tourism destination of choice.”

The UAE Ambassador to Rwanda, HE Hazza Mohammed Falah Kharsan Al Qahtani said:

“Both Rwanda and the UAE are blessed with natural beauty and we recognize our countries’ potential for tourism. As such, the hospitality industry plays a significant role in the diversification of our economies. We also have a mutual understanding that enabling women to enter the workforce and even move ahead in it, enriches our economies. This vocational training program is an excellent example of the working smarter ethos that exemplifies sustainable development. Such technical assistance creates better understanding among nations and is a catalyst for advancing the efforts of the UAE and its partner countries like Rwanda to attain greater innovation and further achievements. We believe the lessons learnt in this workshop will enable Rwanda to achieve excellence in hospitality, which will boost the tourism industry and move Rwanda further in the direction of meeting its national tourism and development goals.”