Mac Dic builds hospitality academy, events centre
Royal Mac Dic Plaza Hotel in Koforidua has added two new facilities to boost its portfolio in the hospitality and tourism industry in the country. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Mac Dic Royal Plaza Hotel, Barima Kofi Adjei Twinin, said although there was a thriving hotel business in the country, there was a missing gap when it came to human resource for the industry and spacious facilities for indoor and outdoor events.
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The Royal Hospitality Academy (RHA) and the Royal Events Park have come in handy to fill the void in Koforidua, in particular, and the country as a whole.
The RHA will train skilled professionals and young persons interested in pursuing a career in the hospitality and tourism industry.
The academy, which opens in May this year, will offer intensive six-month hands-on training to students in front office, housekeeping, as well as food and beverage operations.
As part of steps to prepare the students adequately for the job market, the students will spend three months in the classroom and another three months at the three-star Mac Dic Royal Plaza Hotel in Koforidua where they will be exposed to the job.
Barima Twinin said the Royal Events Park would be a venue for all kinds of social gatherings such as birthday parties, conventions, funerals, weddings and engagements. The Royal Event Park can seat between 2,000 and 3,000 people.
Another facility at the park is a hall which can be used for indoor activities that can seat 200 people. There is also a band stand that can provide live band music. The hotel also has a parking lot for 300 cars.
Secure employment
The institution, to be headed by Dr Joseph Mensah Ansah, the President of Hotels and Tourism Schools in Africa, will conduct teaching and learning in well-furnished classrooms and laboratories fitted with information and communications technology (ICT) equipment.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Koforidua, Barima Twinin, who is described as one of the successful hoteliers in the country, gave an assurance that “unlike other hospitality training schools, where upon completion the students struggle to secure themselves job, the academy would recommend its students for the best hotels in Ghana and other African nations that need them. This will be an opportunity for the students who want to build a successful career in the hospitality and tourism industry,” he said.
He stated that the academy was currently in the process of securing accreditation from the National Vocation Training Institute (NVTI) and the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COVET).
Time to raise hospitality industry
The former President of the Ghana Hotels Association explained that his decision to establish the academy was informed by his 20 years’ experience in the hospitality and tourism industry that provided an insight into how much professional manpower the sector needed to raise the standard of the industry.
“After serving in various positions as the former president of the Ghana Tourism Federation and member of the Board of Ghana Tourism Authority, I have grown to appreciate how much the lack of trained professionals is sinking the image of our hospitality and tourism industry today,” Barima Twinin explained.
He acknowledged that though there were other hospitality schools training the people for the job market, sadly, such training did not prepare them adequately.
“Therefore, it is time we trained professionals who will not only deliver quality services that make guests at our hotels and tourist attractions very comfortable but will also consider a career in hospitality industry from the diploma to degree and doctorate levels very rewarding,” he stated.