Tourism & Hospitality Institute to foster local entrepreneurs – Director

Director of the Tourism and Hospitality Institute, Professor Clement Sankat, believes the time has come for Guyana to pay more attention on developing the skills of local entrepreneurs.
According to Professor Sankat, the Tourism and Hospitality Institute will be doing just that even as it focuses on equipping persons with the skills to work in a modern tourism industry.
Currently, work is progressing on the US$7 million Tourism and Hospitality Institute at Port Mourant, Corentyne in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) with two buildings under construction – one for practical training and the other for classrooms.
According to the Director of the campus, which will also have the Oil and Gas Institute, both buildings should be completed during the first quarter of next year.
With the two elaborate buildings, he noted they will be able to provide training for all aspects of the hospitality industry when the construction is completed. These include Hospitality and Tourism Management, front desk operations, housekeeping, food and beverages, cooking, culinary arts, quality and safety in a hotel, reservations, and marketing.

“More than that, we are going to train our young people in so many other skills that are needed in our country; hairdressing, pedicure, manicure. Put it this way, the Institute will train a lot of people for the tourism industry, for the restaurant industry, for the beverage industry [like] bars – waiters, waitresses, food service [operators]… But it is also going to train young Guyanese who could become entrepreneurs and start a business of their own,” Professor Sankat explained.
The Director further disclosed that the Institute can come into operation by the end of the first quarter of 2026, but this would depend on how quickly the other facilities can be put in place.
“The other facilities would be an administrative building and more importantly, we have to put a utility building so that we can take care of our utilities, bringing in our power, water etc. That has not yet gone out to tender,” he noted.
To this end, Professor Sankat is calling on the Education Ministry to tender for the work in a timely manner.
“If I had the training building, I would have already started some training – trust me. We have people willing and ready to be trained in some of these disciplines. It depends on the Ministry of Education and who will be the contractor and the time the contractor would take,” Professor Sankat pointed out. (G4)