This document summarizes the proceedings from a hospitality conference in Nigeria. It discusses the history and development of hospitality education and the industry in Nigeria. Key points include: - Hospitality education began in technical colleges and has expanded to universities over time. However, the curriculum remains focused on operations over management. - There is a gap between the skills taught in hospitality programs and the managerial skills needed by the industry. Graduates struggle to obtain higher-level positions. - The document calls for restructuring hospitality curricula to emphasize transferable business and management skills. It also recommends establishing a stronger professional body to regulate the industry and profession.

1. , UK(NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL BRANCH)2nd Business Conference@ Accor, The Moorhouse, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria15th June 2011Theme:Redefining The National Education Framework Of Hospitality, Leisure And Tourism Courses For Efficiency And Industrial RelevanceAdedamolaIyiadeLagos State Polytechnic

2. ForewordIf you’re ill, you see a qualified doctor; if you have a legal problem, you see a qualified solicitor; and if you need to audit your company, you see a qualified accountant. If you want to go out to eat, anyone can prepare food for you (Wood, 1997)IntroductionIn 1928 the Nigeria Railways caterers limited were formed. It was jointly managed by UAC and GBO. This company managed the railway transport catering and railway guesthouse.

3. In 1952 Ikoyi government guest houses was established and added to the company operation. The name of the company was later changed to Nigeria Hotel limited.

4. After independence it was found out that the country is lacking hotel that could provide standard international service thus the coming of new hotels like, Airport hotel and Ikoyi hotel, in Lagos, Hamdala hotel, Kaduna, Presidential hotel, Enugu and Premier hotel, Ibadan. This brought in the first set of trained professionals in hospitality managementIntroduction (ctd)Another set of development in the industry was brought about during the oil boom are of the 70’s and the hosting of FESTAC (world festival of arts and culture) in 1977. This brought in hotels like Eko hotels in Lagos, Durbar hotel in Kaduna.

5. This brought in the establishment of Hotel and catering department in institutions like Kaduna Polytechnic and Kwara polytechnic.

6. Since then the inflow of hotels had been on increase which subsequently brought about the establishment of Hotel and catering management department in more polytechnic all over the country with the concentration of such institution in the Northern part of the country.

7. It is pertinent to note that the Hospitality and Tourism program was first offrerd in the university in early 90’s.BackgroundHospitality industry can be set within the context of travel and tourism industry, which contains numerous sub-sectors; such as tour operations, travel agents and airlines (Knowles, 1994, Field, 1976, Baker, Huyton and Bradley, 2001) The growth in tourism industry in 2005 with registered international tourist arrival in worldwide has made the tourism industry as one of the most important industries of the world in economic terms ( Frangialli,2006). The immediate benefits of tourism industry is its’ ability to create employment both at the skilled and unskilled level. As a labour intensive industry tourism has the potential to create more jobs per unit of investment.

8. CurriculumNational DiplomaGoal: To provide diplomates capable of supervising appropriate departments in hospitality organisations. Objectives:Produce Nigerian and international dishes using both local and exotic food commodities.Organise accommodation in hospitality establishmentsSupervise restaurants and bar operations in hospitality organisationsSupervise specific departments in large hospitality organisationsManage small to medium sized hospitality organisation.Higher National DiplomaGoal: The program is designed to produce graduates capable of assuming managerial roles in hospitality establishments. ObjectivesPlan and manage economic operations of hospitality establishments.Plan and manage various sections of any hospitality establishment.Manage any size of hospitality organisations.

9. The CurriculumAnalysis of polytechnic curriculum:National DiplomaHospitality content 71.25%Business 11.25%Others 17.5% Higher National DiplomaHospitality content 58.438%Business 23.376%Others 18.181%Analysis of University curriculumIn Nigeria the breakdown of University curriculum of Hospitality and Tourism Program is as stated below:The core biz courses - 44.63%, The core HCM courses - 42.94%.Food technology related courses-7.35% Tourism - - 7.35%, Nutrition- - 3.39%.Others belongs to general studies 22 credit units - 12.43%

10. The Curriculum - A journey through the InternetAt Iowa State University, Ames; (www.iastate.edu).Department of Food Science and Lodging Management has the following area of research interest for Masters of science (M.S.) and PhD are: Food safety, Marketing and consumer behaviour, Consumer services, Food service management, Financial management, Hospital food service, Human resources Management, Information technology, Lodging operations, School food service, Strategic management, Hospitality and dietetics education, e-commerce Texas Technological University, Department of Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Management, Lubbock, has as their research areas for M.S. and PhD.Strategic management, Tourism, Food service management, Restaurant management, Wine marketing. iii. Other sites that could be visited include, www.aiu.edu, www.hotelschool.cornel.edu , www.ksu.edu, www.shu.ac.uk, www.un.edu, www.unlv.edu etc.

11. Placement of graduates in the industryThe manpower being supplied by the colleges and the universities offering Hospitality and Tourism programme in the country are not totally relevant in the scheme of things in the industry. The polytechnics (colleges) and universities are emphasizing basic and craftsmanship, as the backbone of the profession, base on the curriculum being used in the polytechnic while the Hospitality and Tourism operators are emphasising more on managerial capability. This is the main reason why people from core business program are made to head the hotel, thus a gap exit between the Hotel and Catering Management program curriculum as being executed presently in the polytechnic and universities and the need of the hotel operators (Iyiade, 2008). It is a fact that the hotel is in need of those who can cook, serve food, clean rooms but all those staff operates within the lower strata in the hotel organisation. A ceiling is placed on them as to which position they can hold within the hotel. This is where the bulk of National diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) in Hotel & catering management and even Bachelor of Science (BSc.) holders in Hotel and Catering Administration falls within this crop of employees. The most recent discrimination is now within the professionals themselves, in which some felt that those with post qualification in Home economics, Nutrition, Public administration are more relevant in the profession than those with post qualification in Business Administration, Marketing and even Psychology. This shows lack of deeper knowledge of what the Hotel & Catering program entail and how it is being practiced in the developed countries where the profession was adopted. Catering aspect is about cooking and serving of meals. Hotel is about providing accommodation. Another concept to the program is “Management.” Management is tasks’ Management is a discipline but Management is also people. Every achievement of management is the achievement of a manager. Every failure is a failure of a manager (Drucker, 1979). In other words after your first qualification in Hotel and catering management pursuing post graduate program in information technology, strategic management, accounting, marketing is not out of place.

12. Rating of professionThe weighing factors allocated to different discipline depend on the industry they found themselves. While a Hospitality and Tourism graduate may be rated poorly in a manufacturing company, the same skill should be rated highly in any hospitality firm. But this is not the case in the hospitality industry, tail or head they loose. In the hotel, professionals from the core business disciplines are rated higher than these graduates. The reasons was due the job evaluation plan adopted by various management in the hospitality industry, in which it is believed that core business disciplines contribute more than Hospitality and Tourism graduates towards the attainment of corporate objectives. This is backed by the fact that you are in hospitality business to make money i.e. High return on investment and not carrying of plate, laying bed etc. Though they are what generate the so-called Return on Investment but their activities is controlled at the strategic level. This disparity was not just based on sentiment but on job rating, which is normally based on importance of a specific job or position towards attainment of the organizational goal. In rating jobs and position are based on the job description of various jobs. One of the methods used in rating job is point assessment method. That is weighing the job using the following broad characteristics of work - Skills required - Mental requirement - Physical requirement – Responsibility - Working Condition. So in the hospitality industry, which is, suppose to be the birth right of the Hospitality and Tourism professional, is being discriminated against when it comes to top management position. The question is clear; "You need an additional qualification in the area of management science". It is argued that developing skills across a range of functional areas enhances the likelihood of acceptance within the core although evidence for this is not readily available.

13. Government Policy In Hospitality And TourismNTDC

14. NIHOTOURS

15. NBTEConclusion And RecommendationThere is the need to re-engineer the program as it is being done in developed world where a graduate of Hospitality and Tourism could be Hotel sales and marketing manger, Hotel accountant, Accommodation Manager or Room Division Director, Human Resources Manager, etc. It is essential that both those in industry and the universities continue to discuss the current issues in hospitality training and education, so that we can develop current and future managers Research has always revealed that the industry itself is looking for the best managers, and that there should be an increased emphasis on the business discipline and transferable skills. We must crate graduates who can quickly become productive in an industrial setting, and yet possess the abilities in generic management to proceed to the higher echelons of industry in due course. The Curriculum need to be restructured and multi-skilled professionals attracted. This sort of manpower mix in the department will bring in more researches in the areas of consumer behaviour, human resources, marketing, quality management, ICT etc. Curriculum – the main problem the profession is the curriculum, over emphasis on cooking and food service.

16. Conclusion And RecommendationThe program needs to have strong operational base along with managerial capability:For Diploma. : ND level – operational.HND level – strategicFor university education:Between 100 – 200 level – operational 300 – 400 level – strategicAt post graduate level you can now decide which area you are interested in e.g. culinary, marketing, accommodation food service, sales human resources, accommodation planning etc. Effort should also be directed towards pursing the program up to doctoral level, also having MBA in hospitality and Tourism will not be out of place.

17. Conclusion And RecommendationThere should be increased in core Business courses in the Hospitality and Tourism Management curriculum at both the university and polytechnic. Encouraging the academics in the profession to diversify into the core area of management sciences for them to be more relevant in the industry. Just as the NBTE & NUC are regulating the ND, HND & BSc programmes for supervisory and managerial roles, NIHOTOURS should be repositioned to focus on regulating and standardizing the unskilled and craft aspect of the profession so that the Industry can have all it requires to function effectively and profitably. The professional body should wake up from their slumber. A stronger professional body is required now. For effectiveness the professional body should be divided into subgroup i.e. Culinary, Tour Operators, Food Service, Travel & Ticketing, Sales and Marketing, Tour Guides, Accounting, Human resources/personnel management, Engineering, Accommodation

18. Final WordsFinally I would like to leave you with this poser. What is a Profession?A profession arises when any trade or occupation transforms itself through “the development of formal qualifications based upon education, apprenticeship, and examinations, the emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members and some degree of monopoly rights (wikipedia). Professions are typically regulated by statue, with the responsibilities of enforcement delegated to respective professional bodies, whose function is to define, promote, oversee, support and regulate the affairs of its members. Critically analyzing the above definition certain questions can then be raised about hospitality and tourism professional.Is hospitality and tourism a profession?Do we really have any professional bodies in place?If so, why are they not regulating the professionals and industry?What makes someone a professionals?Is it by have polytechnic diploma or/and university degree?Why are we not having qualifying examinations in the profession?Why are we not chartered?

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