Uganda Tourism Institute worth Uhs380b to open in July

Uganda’s  State Minister for Tourism Godfrey Kiwanda has said that the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Application Hotel located in Jinja is nearing completion and will be officially opened in July.

The construction of the application hotel is being undertaken under the Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project, funded by Government of Uganda (USD. 2.5m), World Bank (USD. 100m) and coordinated by the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU).

Former Tourism Minister  Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu (Now the Minister of Judiciary and Constitutional Affairs) on April 10th 2018, led a team of Government officials and other partners for a groundbreaking ceremony that kickstarted construction works for the new application hotel for Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute in Jinja.

The construction contract was awarded to Roko Construction Limited under the supervision of Arch Design Limited for a duration of 12 months.

Kiwanda who was officiating at the Institute’s Alumni Association launch hosted in Kampala said he will go to the site in two weeks’ time to check on the progress of the construction works.

“The new building is nearing completion (at least  80% complete) will be available for use by July, I will have to travel to Jinja in two weeks’ time to assess the progress of the work so far,” Kiwanda said during the launch.

The proposed three-star hotel once completed will comprise of a fully equipped, 50-room hotel block, conference hall, a bar, two student demonstration kitchens, training restaurants and a laundry block to provide the hospitality students hands-on experience on modern facilities.

Kiwanda also called upon the relevant stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality business to devise means through which they can attract and maintain more local and international tourists who visit particular attractions at every point of the country.

“When you employ someone to make sure they add value to your company, that’s when you’ll hear your clients themselves commending your services and recommending you to other clients, mostly pointing to services like the good food, excellent customer services, welcoming people and so on,” noted  Kiwanda.

He also added that the simple details matter a lot to tourists.

“Ugandans are well known for their hospitable behaviour, but the few spices we add should make us a little different, let’s make our rooms much attractive, employ good chefs, receptionists and hotel maintainers, people don’t come to Uganda for wildlife only,” he said.

“The Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute has added value to our country by producing well-equipped and ready personnel for the job market.

“Government through partnerships and development partners like the world bank has secured funds to revise the curriculum for the institute to international standards and also put up a state of the art building that is under construction and we hope it will be available for use by July,” indicated Kiwanda.

Mariam Namutosi Amori, the Principal of Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute during the launch of the Alumni Association hinted on their future plans.

“We want this institution to be a centre of excellence for tourism and hospitality training by securing international accreditation and recognition.

“We want all facilities required at the institute such as a kitchen and restaurant to be put in place for the training of students,” said Namutosi.

BY FRANK SEMATA