AMFORHT’S REGIONAL EXPANSION INVITATION

In 1969, experts from 12 countries officially launched the World Association for Hospitality and Tourism Education and Training (AMFORHT) at the Hotel School in Nice, under the watch of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in an initiative aimed at raising awareness and helping the industry to evolve.

AMFORHT has made great strides during its half decade of operation. The association reached a major turning point in 2010, with the election of its new president, Philippe François. His re-election for a second, four-year term provided a further reminder of the experience he brings to the hospitality industry, which includes time spent as a hotel operations manager, hotel school director and international organization expert. François also established his own hotel management business school in France and collaborated with other institutions to create 20 similar entities in 10 countries throughout the world.

What have been some of AMFORHT’s recent successful initiatives?
Last year, the NGO was recognized by the UN and granted special consultative status, which will allow it to achieve much in the future. Also, while we continue to work on the development of education programs in the hospitality, catering and tourism sectors, we hope to further enrich our 60+ country delegates’ international knowledge base.

What role does the association play and what makes it important?
AMFORHT is a network for meeting and exchanging best practices, as well as facilitating cooperation between members in the hospitality, catering and tourism industries. Some of its core functions revert to creating unique global links, and sharing strategies and experiences, in addition to facilitating employment and offering internships/training. These help in the evolution and innovation of diverse entities, such as governmental organizations, NGOs, academic institutions, hotels, restaurants, catering companies, resorts, tourism offices and expert consultancies. Simply put, AMFORHT is responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, making it a reference in the hospitality industry.

What will be your areas of focus in the coming year?
We see 2018 as the year for global expansion and intend to increase our member-base by an additional 20-30 countries, especially in the Middle East, because we are not very well known in this region. To facilitate point of entry, we delegate the task to one of the top hospitality organizations affiliated with AMFORHT by having them extend an open invitation to would-be institutions already present and very familiar with that country’s cultural, historical, social and lingual elements. They, in turn, will be able to circumnavigate their way round these more easily and in so doing, further strengthen the communication vehicle employed.

What differentiates your approach compared to what is already on offer?
We are the only UN-recognized NGO focusing on the core human experience of the hospitality industry, especially tourism. This is our organization’s vision, which we are working on promoting and growing. While most hospitality establishments focus on the customer experience, we shifted this focus to the employee experience. The reasoning is, when the employee doing the serving is happy, then naturally, the client will be happy, and by reciprocity, that will make the owner of the establishment happy. In parallel, we are working on creating and sharing the world’s most extensive digital library on the hospitality and tourism industries for free with all AMFORHT members. By the end of this year, users will have access to thousands of online books including entirely-written classroom courses and instructional, hands-on videos. This initiative, while quite costly, will offer added value to our services and in so doing, will allow members with limited resources to greatly benefit.

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