Egyptian Tourism Federation signs landmark agreement with Cornell University School of Hotel Administration

Minister Garranah witnessed the signing of a Letter of Agreement by Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, Ahmed EL-Nahas, and Thomas Kline, Director of Executive Education of Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, that will bring the expertise of one of the world's most prestigious and highly renowned leaders in the field of hospitality education to Egypt.

Cornell is known to professionals in the hospitality industry worldwide as "The Hotel School", and throughout the past 85 years has been associated with educating the leaders of the world's largest and most dynamic industry.

Under the agreement the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, The ETF and CU-SHA will work in close alliance to deliver educational programs through a combination of Cornell industry-leading online courses and Cornell faculty-led in-country courses, aimed at furthering the development of industry professionals and improving excellence within the Egyptian tourism industry.

"This is a very proud moment for Egypt and for this great nation's booming tourism industry; the engine of economic growth and prosperity," said H.E. Zoheir Garranah.

"Our agreement with Cornell is at the heart of our mission to invest in quality human resource development in the tourism industry. It constitutes an essential step in the human resource pyramid we are building; from base to pinnacle. The Ministry of Tourism pledges its support to this program, as it does to all initiatives executed in partnership with the Egyptian Tourism Federation, and will avail substantial resources to enable each and every ambitious industry professional to climb up the hospitality career ladder to a better and brighter future."

A total of five comprehensive programs will be offered by Cornell; with an inaugural Senior Executives Program planned for December 2007. This exclusive program targeted at a select group of forty General Managers of full-service 3 to 5-star hotels, focuses on strategic hospitality management and high performance financial management, and seeks to it elicit the involvement and enthusiasm of senior hoteliers about the Cornell education experience, as it is these role models who will encourage and inspire their staff to follow in their footsteps.

The inaugural program and all subsequent in-country programs offered by Cornell will take place in the internationally acclaimed Red Sea resort destination of El Gouna, one of Egypt's biggest tourism home-grown success stories. All programs will be taught by highly experienced professors from CU-SHA who have vast experience predicting, formulating, and testing strategies for effective management.

"The programs that Cornell will present for the Egyptian hotel industry will provide high-level strategic seminars for the current leaders of the Egyptian hotel industry, and critical management skills development for the future leaders of the Egyptian hotel industry," said Mr. Kline. "These courses will provide opportunities for Egyptian hotel professionals to learn leading-edge management theory, industry best practices, and strategic and tactical application of these elements." "It is with great enthusiasm that the Cornell Hotel School looks forward to this collaboration to create a world-class management education program for the benefit of the Egyptian Hotel Industry."

Recent years have seen a massive drive by Egypt's tourism industry to improve the services that are offered to the millions of tourists who visit its lands each year. December sees the mark of just one of the Ministry's steps forward to ensure that Egypt becomes a place whose tourist services are equal to, if not better than, some of the world's top holiday destinations, and this step will be taken with the aid of Cornell University.

"Today's breakthrough agreement with Cornell University School of Hotel Administration adds another critical tier in our efforts towards the realization of the highest degrees of caliber and quality in the industry, especially at the executive level," said Ahmed El Nahas, Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation. "This program will provide Egypt's hospitality workers with the exemplary education opportunities offered by the Cornell Hotel School with substantial savings and without having to travel all the way across the Atlantic."

The Ministry of Tourism has committed to finance 40% of the participant's costs for the in-country programs for Egyptian nationals, and to negotiate student loans for broadening the participation base for those who wish to enroll in Cornell's online learning courses.

Founded in 1922, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration Cornell offers the only Ivy League program in hospitality management with a curriculum that addresses all aspects of running a business—strategizing and planning, design and construction, financing and marketing, food and beverage management, as well as management and operations. Its excellence however, is not only confined to the Cornell Campus in Ithaca, New York. With professional development programs in Europe and Singapore, Cornell now brings the opportunity to obtain premier hospitality education to Egypt.

Hospitality industry professionals wishing to participate in the Cornell programs will be able to soon register and enroll through the Egyptian Tourism Federation.