A bid by Mount Kenya University Rwanda (MKUR) to become a regional powerhouse in hospitality training has got a shot in the arm as a hotel it is developing in Kigali is set to get a five-star rating.
On February 10, Ms Michaella Rugwizangoga, the chief tourism officer at Rwanda Development Board, held talks with university officials led by founder and chairman Simon Gicharu on the modalities of issuing the rating.
Speaking to Nation.Africa after the meeting, Mr Gicharu said the university has set its bar high as far as hospitality training is concerned.
“We want to set the standards for the region with first-class services to our clients and customers,” said Mr Gicharu.
He noted that at a time when the fortunes of the tourism industry are said to be declining – a phenomenon attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic – there are, nonetheless, great growth opportunities, but only for those who offer superior services.
“This begins at the training stage,” he said.
This comes hot on the heels of a recognition that the Rwandan offshoot of Thika-based Mount Kenya University got in December with regard to its hospitality training.
During the Rwanda Tourism Excellence Awards 2022, MKUR was voted the country’s best training institution in hospitality and tourism.
The announcement was made at the Rwanda Tourism Week that ran from November 26 to December 3, 2022. The function was organised by the Rwanda Chamber of Tourism.
Competing institutions were judged for the relevance of their programmes, the quality of their training, the state of faculty, and the competence and employability of their graduates.
And during an event on February 10 to launch a book detailing the story of the university’s entry into Rwanda 13 years ago, the name of the facility was officially unveiled. It will be named the Kigali Paramount Hotel. It is a 40-room hotel that will be one of the structures in MKUR’s main campus in Rwanda.
Mr Benson Abuto, the head of MKUR’s hospitality and tourism department, believes that the hotel will give Kenya’s Utalii College a run for its money and be an authority in the region.
