Catherine Afeku
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) has officially reopened the Hotel, Catering and Tourism Training Institute (HOTCATT) after massive renovation.
The Ministry has also introduced a new tagline for HOTCATT dubbed, ‘Skill Development for a Career, Not Just for a Job,’ to affirm the agency’s position as a career developing institution in the tourism and hospitality industry.
Speaking at the reopening ceremony, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Catherine Abelema Afeku, bemoaned the deplorable state of HOTCATT when the Akufo-Addo administration came to power.
She revealed that the derelict condition of the institute compelled her to propose a refurbishment project in order to restore it back to its glorious state.
“Over the years, this institution has had its fair share of misery, disappointment, and no budgetary allocation, lack of support and lack of direction. When Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP took over, myself and my able deputy in the vetting process brought to life a manifesto pledge to have a state-of-the-art hospitality training institute in Ghana. Today, you are witnessing a tip of the iceberg of that manifesto pledge,” she said.
Mrs. Afeku further highlighted challenges that some tourists have encountered due to poor service quality in the hospitality industry, underscoring the need for the transformed HOTCATT to provide a massive turnaround to Ghana’s tourism and hospitality industry to give students the best of critical managerial and technical skills needed to provide good and quality service for all.
Mrs Afeku added that the Ministry intends to establish similar training centres nationwide, with most immediate ones being set up in the Eastern, Western and Volta regions.
Mrs. Afeku explained that since tourism is a key to achieving the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy, her ministry has introduced basic, supervisory level and executive programmes to help improve standards in the industry.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HOTCATT, Jenny Adade, praised the Tourism Minister for her dedication and unwavering support to the reconstruction of the institute.
The renovated hospitality training institute boasts of a career development facility, industry recruitment office and training rooms for practice.