By Yemi Olakitan
An innovative training programme for the economic development of women and young people living in tourist host communities across Nigeria has been launched, according to the management of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) Abuja. The project would be introduced in Lagos on November 28, 2022.
According to Nura Sani Kangiwa, director general of NIHOTOUR. It is called the Sustainable Tourism Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP).
The STEP is a cutting-edge training and empowerment programme for new tourism and hospitality small business ventures as well as sustainable operations of small businesses in rural tourist host communities and major cities across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones where NIHOTOUR already has campuses and training facilities. The curriculum is innovative and created to instruct, equip, and guide learners in practical skills and e
Additionally, the project intends to steadily expand Nigeria’s tourism industry at various tourist spots, paying particular attention to the rise of local inhabitants’ income and savings, the expansion of employment opportunities, and the long-term development of tourism sites and businesses. The STEP project is focused on disadvantaged youth in Nigeria, including post-primary educated skilled adolescents, physically challenged individuals, internally displaced individuals, and young ladies and women. Participants will not be charged for the training. Additionally, starter packs will be provided to programme graduates so they can launch their own enterprises.
The STEP project will last for three months and involve a rigorous “learning-by-doing” curriculum where trainees will learn about the creation of tourist or hospitality products, the operation of services, and the specifics of starting their own business after the training is complete. In the trainees’ preferred fields of specialisation, with lucrative niche markets in the industry, they would learn business development skills like go-to-market strategies, business incorporation, product packaging, brand positioning, online and offline marketing, customer relationship management, and current global best practises.
To ensure that graduates have a brief period of supervised apprenticeship at existing tourism or hospitality business outlets at various tourist destinations, the STEP project will be delivered through student “study-to-work” job placements and supervised mentoring systems in partnership with tourism and related private-sector organisations. The three-month training program’s work placement and mentorship component’s objective is to equip graduates with practical knowledge and real-world business management abilities so they may successfully launch and run their own enterprises.
