CAIRO: Egyptian Minister of Tourism Zoheir Garranah recently announced the latest endeavor in the efforts to raise the standards in the tourism sector and to create opportunities for Egypt s hospitality industry professionals, according to a statement released to the press. Minister Garranah witnessed the signing of a Letter of Agreement by Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation Ahmed El-Nahas and Thomas Kline, director of executive education of Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. The agreement will bring the expertise of one of the most prestigious schools in the field of hospitality education to Egypt. Cornell is known to professionals in the hospitality industry worldwide as The Hotel School. Under this agreement, Egypt's Ministry of Tourism, the ETF and CU-SHA will work in close alliance to deliver educational programs through a combination of Cornell's online courses and faculty-led in-country courses. "This is a very proud moment for Egypt and for this great nation's booming tourism industry; the engine of economic growth and prosperity, said Garranah. "Our agreement with Cornell is at the heart of our mission to invest in quality human resource development in the tourism industry. "It constitutes an essential step in the human resource pyramid we are building; from base to pinnacle. The Ministry of Tourism pledges its support to this program, as it does to all initiatives executed in partnership with the Egyptian Tourism Federation, and will avail substantial resources to enable each and every ambitious industry professional to climb up the hospitality career ladder to a better and brighter future. A total of five comprehensive programs will be offered by Cornell; with an inaugural Senior Executives Program planned for December 2007. This program targets a select group of 40 general managers of full-service three- to five-star hotels, focusing on strategic hospitality and financial management. It will elicit the involvement of senior hoteliers in the Cornell education experience so they can encourage their staff to do the same. The inaugural program and all subsequent in-country programs offered by Cornell will take place in El Gouna. All programs will be taught by professors from CU-SHA who have vast experience predicting, formulating, and testing strategies for effective management. "The programs that Cornell will present for the Egyptian hotel industry will provide high-level strategic seminars for the current leaders of the Egyptian hotel industry, and critical management skills development for the future leaders of the Egyptian hotel industry, said Kline. These courses will provide opportunities for Egyptian hotel professionals to learn leading-edge management theory, industry best practices, and strategic and tactical application of these elements. Recent years have seen a massive drive by Egypt's tourism industry to improve the services that are offered to the millions of tourists who visit its lands each year. December sees the mark of just one of the Ministry's steps forward to ensure that Egypt becomes a place whose tourist services are equal to, if not better than, some of the world's top holiday destinations, and this step will be taken with the aid of Cornell University. Ahmed El Nahas, chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, said, "This program will provide Egypt's hospitality workers with the exemplary education opportunities offered by the Cornell Hotel School with substantial savings and without having to travel all the way across the Atlantic. The Ministry of Tourism has committed to finance 40 percent of the participant's costs for the in-country programs for Egyptian nationals, and to negotiate student loans for broadening the participation base for those who wish to enroll in Cornell s online learning courses. Hospitality industry professionals wishing to participate in the Cornell programs will be able to soon register and enroll through the Egyptian Tourism Federation.
