Bodies Partner for Professional Certification

Segun Awofadeji

The National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) and the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN) are collaborating to evolve a Professional Certification and Licensing Practice (PC & LP) guide for certified professionals in the Hospitality, Travel-Tourism (HOTOUR) and related trades in Nigeria.

The Director General of NIHOTOUR, Mr. Nura Sani Kangiwa, said that professional licensing and certification would not only inject sanity in the conduct and operations of personnel in the industry sector, but will also offer the practitioners the confidence in the acquisition of prerequisite qualifications that are graded and authenticated through competence test that are verifiable, reliable and acceptable for job placement in the industry.

This is contained in a press release signed by the Director, Media and Public Relations, NIHOTOUR, Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Sule, and made available to newsmen yesterday.

Earlier in his presentation to unveil programs for the exercise, Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, National President of ITPN, said that the need to have the professional certification for hospitality and tourism practice in Nigeria became imperative in view of the need to place practitioners in the industry on proper job cadres and designations commensurate with the qualifications and certification, competency they acquired through professional and skill training as well as certificate of award earned and valid license to practice.

He reeled out some of the mainstream programs and activities to be engaged in the professional certification for Hospitality and Tourism Practice in Nigeria to include Certified Tourism Professional (CTP) scheme as a pinnacle performance based recognition program to be awarded when an employee demonstrates mastery of required skills that meets standards of the profession in a practical job setting as well as writing an examination to prove his/her knowledge, culminating into an evaluation of their practical competence in a real-world setting.