Inaugural Cornell University School of Hotel Administration Program takes off in El Gouna

As part of their ongoing efforts to enhance performance throughout the tourism industry, particularly within the hospitality sector, the Ministry of Tourism and the Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) recently signed a Letter of Agreement with CU-SHA to bring its exceptional program offerings to both the country and the region, and it was with this first program that they kicked off what they hope to be an invaluable opportunity with Cornell.

As part of their forward vision to develop El Gouna into a destination of excellence in education, Orascom Hotels Development (OHD) provided the learning facility, equipment and accommodation for program participants and Cornell faculty members at various venues throughout El Gouna, and will continue do so for the next three years. In addition, OHD will grant the hopsitality industry one scholarship per year to attend Cornell's General Manager's Program in Ithaca, New York or Brussels, as part of the Egyptian Hoteliers Award Program.

'The Cornell programs offered in Egypt will provide high-level strategic seminars for the current leaders of the Egyptian hotel industry, and critical management skills development for the industry's future leaders,' said Thomas Kline, Director of Executive Education at Cornell. '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.'

Cornell's Inaugural Senior Executives Program took place from December 9-12th as the first of two in-country programs to be held in El Gouna annually over the next three years. The four -days intensive learning program comprised two separate courses, which were individually taught by internationally recognized professors, Steven A. Carvell (Associate Dean for Academic Affairs) and Thomas P. Cullen (Retired Associated Dean for Industry and International Affairs), both of whom are highly regarded members of the CU-SHA faculty and specialize in predicting, formulating, and testing strategies for effective management.

The program provided participants with a plethora of invaluable ideas and strategies, which was what prompted Mr. Ahmed El-Nahas, Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation and a highly regarded expert within the hospitality industry, to participate in the program himself. 'Despite my years of experience working within the tourism sector, the importance of continued education has proven essential, especially in an industry that is perpetually changing and evolving with the times,' said Mr. El-Nahas. 'The Cornell program offers value-added, in-depth and comprehensive assessments of the issues that are integral to improving Egypt's hospitality industry both in the short-term and long-term. By strengthening the industry today, we'll be better able to meet the demands of tomorrow.'

Forty-four individuals from a select group of local and regional General Managers of full-service 3 to 5-star hotels attended this exclusive program, the curriculum of which came straight out of Cornell's highly acclaimed General Managers Program.

The first of the two courses offered in the Inaugural Senior Executives Program, 'High-Performance Financial Management for Hotels,' taught by Professor Steven Carvell is designed to help hotel managers bridge the gap between business strategy and operational performance; focusing on value creation from the perspective of the hotel operator, with the expectation that getting the most value out of the individual business units will over time aid in the company's goal of value maximization. Through the discussion of a variety of topics, such as 'Understanding how to allocate resources within the hotel to maximize value', 'Improving financial performance by maximizing the use of working capital and long-term assets in a competitive hotel market', and 'Assessing the value of outsourcing and in-sourcing in the hotel industry', participants learnt how best to measure financial performance and value creation for hotels and how companies connect these metrics with the hotel's strategic goals ands its managers' performance.

The second course, 'Strategic Thinking - Managing the Future,' taught by Professor Thomas Cullen is based on philosopher Marshal McLuhan's notion that most business decisions are made on the premise that the past is a good predictor of the future and yet the pace of change in today's society means that the future can not be an extension of the past. As such, the course focuses on how to 'think' in the future tense in a creative way, to question conventional wisdom, to raise difficult questions, and to move the organization from being successful in the present to being successful in the future.

The program proved to be a huge success that left participants with the feeling that they had been given invaluable practical knowledge and strategies that will enable them to better manage their businesses.

'The course was designed to help the people in the room to think like owners. We estimated in the beginning of the class that among the 44 participants we had there was almost a thousand years of hotel experience in the room. Most of that experience is spent managing the hotels from department level up to GM and leadership positions now, but they aren't taught during that whole time to think like the owners they work with,' explained Professor Steve Carvell about the High-Performance Financial Management for Hotels course.

'Cornell courses are a dream for any professional in our industry.We has learnt in this course the main driver for success in our industry; knowledge, managing changes and globalization. We also learnt to be proactive assets managers, how to think as an investor, and how to deal with our guest,' described Ahmed Anis GM Novotel 6th of October about his overall experience.

The program finished off with a closing ceremony attended by H.E Zoheir Garranah, Minister of Tourism, Red Sea Governor, Bakr El Rasheedy, and Thomas Klein, Director of Executive Education of the Cornell Hotel School. The Minister emphasized the importance of human resource capacity building in the tourism industry and acknowledged the participants as being the 'Cornell Egypt Program Pioneers of Excellence.' Participants were awarded with certificates from Cornell University, marking their completion of the Senior Executives Program.

The ceremony was sponsored by Palm Hills Development, part of the Mansour Group, which has long been one of the pioneers in Egypt, not only as a business leader, but also as an initiator in adopting Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, as well as sponsoring high level educational programs for many of their employees. Their interest in sponsoring this ceremony comes as part of an endeavor to encourage and grow the level of education and skills set for future generations in the country.