57 department trainers and 18 coordinators from 15 hotels located in greater Tunis and Hammamet were gathered on November 18, 22, and 23 to enhance their industry-based qualifications and advance in their professional careers. The program will be extended to hotels in the Center and the South of Tunisia in February 2023. The program aims to train 2500 employees by the end of 2023 in order to improve the quality of hotel services in Tunisia.
Empowering hotels staff in greater Tunis and Hammamet to enhance qualifications
As the tourism sector recovers from COVID-19 pandemic and destinations return to business, there is a growing need for more qualified staff in hotels in Tunisia. While upgrading skills is a must to provide high-quality tourism experiences that meet the standards of excellence and quality in the hotel sector, hotels are struggling and experiencing a shortage of trained personnel from academic or training institutions. Finding alternative solutions is more crucial than ever to the tourism sector in the country. The Pathways to Professionalism program aspires to provide alternative solutions to overcome these challenges.

— Racha Fadhlaoui, Quality Manager at the Mouradi Africa hotel.
November 2022 marked the first implementation of the Pathways to Professionalism program in Tunis. Were trained and certified:
- 18 managers from human resources, learning and development services of 15 hotels located in greater Tunis and Hammamet on November 18. They are responsible for implementing the program in their hotels and will act as “Coordinators” between several stakeholders: “Department Trainers”, the hotel’s General Manager, and USAID Visit Tunisia.
- 57 employees from the Housekeeping, Food and Beverage, and Food Production departments on November 22 and 23. They will act as "Department Trainers", taking the training forward and teaching staff in their departments to improve the quality of services in hotels in Tunisia.


The certified Pathways to Professionalism Coordinators are managers from the following hotels: Movenpick Gammarth , Movenpick Lac 1, Novotel Lac 1, El Mouradi Africa, El Mouradi Gammarth, Belvedere Fourati, Barcelo Occidental Lac 1, Barcelo Concorde Lac 1, Novotel Tunis, Ibis Tunis ,Dar El Marsa, The Residence Tunis,Golden Tulip Taj Sultan, Le Corail, and the Sindbad; and from the Agence de la Formation dans les Métiers du Tourisme (AFMT).

— Walid Melliti, HR Manager at the Novotel and Ibis Tunis.



— Olfa Meddeb, Human Resources Manager at the Mövenpick Gammarth hotel.







— Wided Saâdaoui, General Housekeeper, Novotel Tunis Mohamed V
The program focused on three key professions in the hotel industry: housekeeping, catering, and food production. Through an innovative and progressive training approach, learners benefited from work-based training and certification that will enable them to improve their skills and advance in their professional careers. Thanks to the program’s manuals and modules, the “Department Trainers” will train semi-qualified and qualified staff in these services to ensure they acquire international standards-based knowledge, skills and behaviors.

— Belabed Nawfel, Bar Manager, hôtel Mövenpick du Lac Tunis



What’s next in early 2023?
33 hotels from Hammamet, Monastir, Sousse, Mahdia, Sfax and Tozeur will participate in Pathways to Professionalism in 2023. Over 120 “Coordinators” and “Department Trainers” of these hotels will be trained in two cohorts, in Sousse (February 1-17) and Sfax (February 21-23).

See more photos on our Facebook posts below!