6 September 2008
THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has cracked whip, demanding that all employees in the sector be vetted by the tourism promotion body in a last ditch bid to restore glamour to the industry ravaged by poor service delivery.
The latest measure is necessitated by the raw deal clients are getting from staff at hotels and restaurants. Waiters and waitresses have gained notoriety for harassing clients.
Under the new dispensation, each institution will be given a time frame to train their staff depending on the number of employees. After going through the training, the employees have to be trade-tested by ZTA.
Karikoga Kaseke, ZTA chief executive officer, told Standardbusiness the crackdown was designed to restore normalcy in the industry.
"People throw in the dustbins the concept of customer service," he said. "If the tourism industry does not lead in service delivery, then which sector can it lead?"
Kaseke said the Tourism Act requires that certain categories of employees be trade-tested.
The employees who have to pass the trade tests include cooks, waiters, front office staff, operation managers and directors.
Asked why it had taken a long time for ZTA to implement the programme, Kaseke said the tourism promotion body had done its homework on how to implement the programme.
As a precursor to the implementation of the programme, Kaseke said ZTA had dispatched its staff members to China, France and Singapore on a fact-finding mission.
"It's not easy to put a programme, you must understand the system and do research. At CAAZ (Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe), it took me three years to come up with a programme to train flight attendants," he said.
Kaseke is a former chief executive officer of CAAZ.
The ZTA boss said some staffers in the industry who do not hold requisite qualifications would be affected.
"If certain levels of management do not provide certain qualifications, we will not register them," the ZTA boss said.
The crackdown by ZTA comes in the wake of plans by industry players to halt the plummeting standards in the sector. Last month players in the industry met twice to audit the state of affairs in the industry. The meeting resolved the formation of a hospitality educator's body that will work with the ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education to improve curriculum in hospitality training institutions. The interim committee is chaired by John Chidzomba of the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe.
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