DTCM signs MoU with Emirates Aviation College for hospitality training

ETW Staff - Mumbai

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Emirates Aviation College (EAC) to work together to improve training opportunities for the hospitality and tourism industry in Dubai.

The agreement, signed recently by EAC vice-chancellor Mohammed Al Budoor and DTCM executive director, Human Resources and Training Solutions, Ibrahim Yaqoot, allows both sides to plan, develop, and conduct joint and complementary professional training programmes for the hospitality industry professionals within the Emirates Group in particular and the UAE in general.

The DTCM, which is the master licensee of the American Hotel and Lodging Association's international training programmes for hospitality, has been working with the EAC over the past few months to find new ways to work together for quality industry training.

The Emirates Aviation College (Aerospace & Academic Studies) is licensed by the UAE Ministry of Education and offers professional vocational programmes in Aerospace Engineering, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Business Management and Travel & Tourism Management, in addition to short courses in management and the English language.

Al Budoor said, "This co-operation will greatly enhance the tourism industry, one of the most important economic sectors within the UAE which has seen tremendous growth over the past few years. As part of the Emirates Group, we are committed to providing the best possible training courses for its employees. I am confident that our relationship with DTCM will enhance our tourism management courses and help us attract more professionals both within the Emirati and expatriate workforce."

The parties will also explore the possibility of EAC becoming a sub-licensee of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. As a Sub-License Centre for the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the college will hold hospitality training courses for employees of the Emirates Group's newest division, Emirates Hotels and Resorts.

The DTCM and EAC will conduct the training programmes in the Emirates Group and in Dubai, and may award where appropriate, joint certificates for participants who have completed and passed the set requirements of the competency-based training units.

The training will be based on American Hotel and Lodging Association training programmes for the operational departments of the hospitality industry.

Yaqoot said, "We hope to jointly offer, from time to time, seminars, conferences, workshops and industry panels in the tourism and hospitality field and to even promote academic and industrial research and the sharing of that research with the tourism and hospitality Industry."