Minister for Further and Higher Education, research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris and Minister of State Noel Collins have announced two new skills programmes for the hospitality and tourism sectors.
The programmes were developed by SOLAS and the Education and Training Boards in consultation with the Irish Hotels Federation and Fáilte Ireland.
Andrew Brownlee CEO of SOLAS said, “These programmes are coming on stream at a time of unprecedented challenges for the Hospitality and Tourism sector and are designed in response to their needs.”
Both programmes are aimed at upskilling employees in these sectors so that they are ready for reopening.
The government hopes to assist in recovery and growth in the hospitality and tourism sector by offering two programmes, one programme that develops team leaders and another that develops supervisory management capability.
The programmes will upskill team leaders and supervisory staff in areas such as finance and people management.
Employees will also be trained in customer care, digital skills, communications, strategic planning and management and green and sustainability skills.
The programmes hope to encourage the retention of talent by developing leadership capability to bring a new lease of life to businesses.
Minister Harris said that COVID-19 has had devastating effects on the economy and has hugely impacted the hospitality sector.
He said “The sector has temporarily had to close, and I want to ensure we use this time to support the sector in preparing for when they can resume business. The hospitality and tourism sectors are vital to the Irish economy and we must support it to recover and grow.”
Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, President of the Irish Hotels Federation praised SOLAS and the Education and Training Boards throughout the country for the Skills to Advance initiative.
She said, “These two hospitality training programmes are very relevant and support the development of the leadership and management skillsets required to recover and grow tourism in Ireland sustainably.”
The online courses are free of charge and hope to cater to 800 people over the two courses of this year. More information can be found on the government’s The Right Course Website.
Michelle Cullen
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Note: This article was reuploaded on 26/03/2021 due to a fault with The College View website.