The Continental Hotel Group, owners of the Abuja & Lagos Continental Hotel, has unveiled its training academy, a comprehensive program designed to provide skilled manpower for the hospitality sector, starting with undergraduates at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and set to expand to other universities nationwide.
Chairman of Continental Hotels Group, Ramesh Kansagra, is the visionary behind the initiative.
The unveiling attracted hundreds of students of the university , authorities of the ivory tower and the former Information & Culture minister ,Alhaji Lai Mohammed was heralded with a Hospitality Industry Career Insights at the faculty of social sciences lecture theatre, UNILAG, Akoka, Lagos.
According to Kansagra, the Continental Hotel Training Academy for undergraduates is part of the Group’s Corporate Social Investment, aimed at addressing the skill needs and cultivating fresh talent for the hospitality sector.
The inaugural edition of the Continental Hotels Hospitality Training organised in collaboration with the management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) attracted scores of undergraduates in the ivory tower and stakeholders in the industry.
“The Academy will offer short courses in Hospitality Management, admitting students on a non-residential basis,”Kansagra stated.
“All short courses will be offered as part of our CSR initiative, including specialised training from Hospitality Management Professionals with global brand experience and University Lecturers,” he added.
The curriculum will include industrial exposure at any of the Continental Hotels and other five-star hotels in the country. Certificates will be jointly issued by UNILAG and the Continental Hotels Hospitality Training Academy.
Kansagra emphasised that exceptional students will be offered employment opportunities at the end of the training.
The Continental Hotels Training Academy, he noted, was established with several key objectives to address the skill gap in Nigeria’s hospitality industry.
The Chairman said, “The academy seeks to provide essential training and skill acquisition platforms to mitigate the shortage of hospitality management skills and to develop a skilled and competent workforce capable of meeting the human resource needs of the industry.
“To achieve these goals, the academy will offer fully funded corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes for Nigerian students,” Kansagra added.
The Academy, according to him, plans to collaborate with higher education institutions to enhance and expand their hospitality management curriculum by incorporating industry practices.
UNILAG Deputy Vice Chancellor ( Developmental Services ), Prof Ayodele Atsenuwa thanked the management of Continental Hotels for the unparalleled opportunity to the students as well as a veritable avenue to raise future ready graduates for the Nigerian economy .
According to her, the academy would avail the spectrum of opportunities in the hospitality industry even as the university awaits its eventual unfolding of the corporate social investment of the Continental Hotels Group.
In his address titled, “Investment Opportunities in the Creative Industry in Nigeria,” the immediate minister of Information, Culture & Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed affirmed that there are lots of avenues for investors to excel in the industry.