Training/Tourism: Human resources, a real Achilles' heel
19 January 2009
Read by 1823 persons
Training in the tourism sector is very important. It affects service quality and profitability of tourism businesses.
Service quality is not a strong point in Morocco, as professionals themselves have often admitted. So, as part of the 2010 vision, initial and continuing education were identified as major areas for development. Morocco needs 72,000 people in the tourism sector by 2012. People need training in hospitality and catering, linked to the opening of hotels under the Plan Azur. To date, the results have been mixed. However, there are a number of plans and partnerships to mention, such as the HR contract-program signed between the state and tourism professionals at the last Tourism Summit in Tetouan. This public-private partnership aims to speed up the process of supplying the market with qualified human resources.
The European Union, through its MEDA2 program, also supports Moroccan companies in upgrading, particularly in human resource management.
A tourism academy?
“In training, there are two aspects: initial training and continuing education. Within the National Federation of Tourism (FNT), continuing education includes several modules in preparation, particularly within the framework of the National Tourism Academy (Editor's note: initially planned for June 2008, but has not yet been launched), spearheaded by President Cherif Othmane Alami”, explains Loïc Gogue, HR expert at the FNT. This NTA will train tourism sector professionals in partnership with various stakeholders. This Academy could cover several key themes in the tourism chain, such as hygiene, safety, catering… “But this project remains to be developed”, stresses Mr. Gogue.
Currently, in terms of training, the Moroccan offer is mainly focused on initial training, with the creation of new vocational training centers and the redesign of certain sectors. Most of the work is at this level. Tourism, with increasingly large and numerous projects, is more than ever in need of human resources.
Between 2008 and 2012, the creation of 62,000 jobs related to hotels is planned.
But the current training pace does not allow us to meet the challenge. For example, even if the number of graduates almost tripled between 2001 and 2007, it did not exceed 6,140 at the end of 2007, which is still below the objectives. Hence the multiple efforts made by the public authorities to quickly increase the teaching capacity of training institutions.
Younes Samir
Posted on January 19, 2009
aufaitmaroc.com
Service quality is not a strong point in Morocco, as professionals themselves have often admitted. So, as part of the 2010 vision, initial and continuing education were identified as major areas for development. Morocco needs 72,000 people in the tourism sector by 2012. People need training in hospitality and catering, linked to the opening of hotels under the Plan Azur. To date, the results have been mixed. However, there are a number of plans and partnerships to mention, such as the HR contract-program signed between the state and tourism professionals at the last Tourism Summit in Tetouan. This public-private partnership aims to speed up the process of supplying the market with qualified human resources.
The European Union, through its MEDA2 program, also supports Moroccan companies in upgrading, particularly in human resource management.
A tourism academy?
“In training, there are two aspects: initial training and continuing education. Within the National Federation of Tourism (FNT), continuing education includes several modules in preparation, particularly within the framework of the National Tourism Academy (Editor's note: initially planned for June 2008, but has not yet been launched), spearheaded by President Cherif Othmane Alami”, explains Loïc Gogue, HR expert at the FNT. This NTA will train tourism sector professionals in partnership with various stakeholders. This Academy could cover several key themes in the tourism chain, such as hygiene, safety, catering… “But this project remains to be developed”, stresses Mr. Gogue.
Currently, in terms of training, the Moroccan offer is mainly focused on initial training, with the creation of new vocational training centers and the redesign of certain sectors. Most of the work is at this level. Tourism, with increasingly large and numerous projects, is more than ever in need of human resources.
Between 2008 and 2012, the creation of 62,000 jobs related to hotels is planned.
But the current training pace does not allow us to meet the challenge. For example, even if the number of graduates almost tripled between 2001 and 2007, it did not exceed 6,140 at the end of 2007, which is still below the objectives. Hence the multiple efforts made by the public authorities to quickly increase the teaching capacity of training institutions.
Younes Samir
Posted on January 19, 2009
aufaitmaroc.com
