African Sun Limited, a pan-African hospitality group operating in
BY Wallace Mawire The Afro News International
HARARE
African Sun Limited, a pan-African hospitality group operating in seven countries across the continent has established a hospitality training academy in Zimbabwe to spearhead and enhance skills development within the group, according to Farayi Mangwende, Group Corporate Communications Manager. Mangwende says that the hospitality training academy is an academy for the learning and development of hospitality operational skills created by African Sun Hotels in 1995 as Hospitality Training
Institution.The institution was subsequently named hospitality training academy on 1st January 2004.Following the repositioning and re-branding of African Sun Limited in 2008, as well as the direction given by the group’s strategic goals, the focus of the academy has changed significantly. Mangwende says that the main role of the academy is to ensure and maintain excellent service delivery within the group through the implementation of correct training programmes for staff with the thrust of becoming a viable and competitive strategic business unit within the African Sun group, to become the renowned hospitality academy and centre of excellence for leadership in the service industry in Southern Africa within three years of operation, the top five ranked hospitality academies and leadership centers internationally within five years of operation and to provide products that will service the retail sector,airline industry,tour operators,banking and finance industry and the hospitality industry. It has also been learnt that the academy has grown over the years to become a fully-fledged tertiary hotel school offering a full array of hospitality and tourism courses.Mangwende adds , African Sun continues to consolidate its excellent service standards via installation of satellite training academies in West and East Africa, the two main areas of expansion into sub-Saharan Africa .
“Growing the brands regionally is a fundamental factor as the group continues in its quest to establish brand leadership where African Sun will dominate other brands and become the benchmark for other players in the region,” says Mangwende. African Sun Limited was founded in 1968 as Zimbabwe Sun Limited and in 2008 changed its name to African Sun Limited to reflect its continental ambitions.African Sun owns and also operates several high profile properties under management contract such as the Grace Hotel in Johannesburg, the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe,Holiday Inn Accra Airport where US President Barak Obama stayed on his first African state visit and Obudu Mountain Resort in Nigeria.
As well as having its own brands, namely Mulberry,Platinum,Amber,Amber Express,my place and the Kingdom resort brand, African Sun also mananges and operates Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) affiliated brands such as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express. Some of the courses being offered by the academy include short term programmes in food and beverage,culinary arts,housekeeping and frontline office operations.A HEXCO national certificate course is also being offered covering housekeeping operations,front office operations,food and beverage management.There is also a provision to
proceed to a two year national diploma.
