Accra, Oct. 17, GNA - Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City, on Monday urged managers in the hospitality industry to ensure quality service in their operations. He said quality service was the key to a prosperous and booming hospitality industry in the country, hence the need to employ professionals to work in the industry.

The Minister was speaking at a graduation ceremony of 10 staff of the Golden Beach Hotels who had undergone training at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore in the United States of America.

The graduates were awarded with degrees in Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA), Certified Hotel Supervisors (CHS) and certificates in Hazards Analysis for Control and Critical Points (HACCIP). He advised the graduates to train their colleagues who could not pursue the course, saying, "Knowledge which is not shared is ignorance". Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey congratulated the management of the Golden Beach Hotels and urged them to continue investing in their human resources since quality human resource training was important to the growth of every organization.

Dr Thelma Thompson, President of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, announced that the university in collaboration with other stakeholders in Ghana was instituting a hotel and restaurant management course at the University of Cape Coast to train people in the polytechnics and those already in the industry.

Mr Kwame Young-Gyampoh, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Beach Hotels, said Golden Beach Hotels had put in place a programme that would allow a number of staff to travel annually to the United States for executive training programmes.

Mr Young-Gyampoh reiterated the need to invest in the training of the development of professionals in the hotel industry.