”’We have taken further steps to support the development of the VET sector by promoting the “Opportunity Knocks” Training Hotels (OK Training Hotels)”.

OK Training Hotels aim at creating a qualified workforce for the sector and career opportunities for the non-qualified and under-qualified. The approach is to train participants in a real-life hospitality situation: work-based or apprenticeship based. Target groups: non-qualified or under-qualified hospitality and tourism workers and unemployed hospitality talents, in countries where hospitality and tourism training is still mainly school-based education, and the majority of the work force has no qualification and therefore limited opportunities for a career in hospitality and tourism. In other words, we aim to increase job and career opportunities, therefore “Opportunity Knocks”.

The training approach is based on international hospitaliy training standards, hence the OK, as in “Okay”: The provision of training has to meet modern quality standards.

For this purpose we are in the process of engaging partners and exploring talks, i.e. with training hotels (or equivalent) in Sub-Sahara Africa and the Balkan countries that might qualify. OK Training Hotels will play a leading role, and will be a role model for other hospitality and tourism training providers in the respective regions/countries. We started providing encourage support the UBT Centre for Tourism Economics and Innovation in Kosovo (www.tourism.ubt-uni.net) to develop into the UBT Hospitality and Tourism Training Academy / OK Training Hotel.