Tourism and hospitality training among Botswana's tertiary institution. A stakeholder perspective

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Tourism - Miscellaneous, grade: pass, Midlands State University (Midlands State University), course: Masters of Commerce in Tourism and Hospitality, language: English, abstract: This study was carried out to appraise the tourism and hospitality training in Botswana's institutions from a stakeholder's perspective. The stakeholders in this research were limited to the students and trainers/lecturers. The objectives of the study were: to determine stakeholders perceptions on the strengths of tourism and hospitality training among Botswana's tertiary institutions, to determine stakeholders perceptions on the weaknesses of tourism and hospitality training among Botswana's tertiary institutions, to determine the challenges faced by tourism and hospitality tertiary institutions with regard to delivering tourism training, to recommend strategies that may be adopted to improve the quality of tourism and hospitality training among Botswana's tertiary institutions.The purpose of the research was to examine the existing gap between the tourism and hospitality training and tourism manpower needs in Botswana. Current literature evaluation on the hospitality and tourism education and training shows a number of differences for the tourism and hospitality manpower needs especially in developed countries. The study adopted a qualitative technique which involved both students and industry staff filling the questionnaires and also head of departments, trainers and managers were interviewed. Purposive and convenience sampling were used in order to select the participants. Semi-structured interview questions were used in the study as a method of data collection, and the study targeted seventy five students in all the institutions and two lecturers in each institution of four.One head of department in each institution, fifteen industry staff from all the four establishments, two managers from each establishment were interviewed. The study revealed that there is shortage of resources and current training curriculum is negatively impacting the effectiveness of the training institutions. The findings point out those learners is trained with limited resources and therefore some students produced by the institutions are not competent enough to face the labour market.The study recommended among other things to make the curricula more practical and equip trainers with the necessary skills that will give them more opportunity to carry out research. This will enable them to be effective and assist the academic institutions in Botswana in generating quality tourism and hospitality learners to work in the industry for future challenges.

About the author

John Baldwin is a deacon and has served in many ministries at Parkway Hills Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. He also serves on the board of directors for High Adventure Treks for Dads and Daughters and Dads and Sons (HATS). This organization promotes father/daughter and father/son communication, leadership, and relationships through shared adventures such as white water kayaking, rock climbing, and other outdoor activities. By day, John is a business technology consultant working with the largest credit card banks. He enjoys spending time with his family, boating, camping, backpacking, cycling, and cooking. John and Stephanie have been married for more than thirty years and are the proud parents of Mackenzie, Luke, and Michael.Mackenzie Baldwin is a college student pursuing a double major in Psychology and Child Development. She is adventurous, enjoying activities such as rock climbing, camping, backpacking, and water sports. She is scuba certified and as a certified skydiver, she has made more than fifty solo jumps. Currently she works at Petsmart and spends a lot of time with her German Shepherd, Nova.

Stephanie Baldwin is very active at Parkway Hills Baptist Church, serving in the financial ministry to provide budget coaching and on the finance committee. She is involved in a women's Bible Study group targeting the unchurched from the community. She is a CPA and has worked in the tax industry for more than thirty years. She is very much a Do-It-Yourselfer, enjoying refinishing, building, and repurposing furniture. She also enjoys boating, scuba diving, reading, and maintaining several large aquariums.

Summary

This is the never-before-told, riveting true story about a teenage Christian girl who was seduced online by a charming young Muslim man from Kosovo, and her father who ultimately worked with the FBI to save her from disappearing forever.

The Baldwins were a strong Christian family, living in Plano, Texas. When their seventeen-year-old daughter, Mackenzie, met Aadam in a random-match online chat room, she fell for his good looks, his charm, and his respectful conversation. He told her he lived in New York, and they began an online friendship.

But over the course of a few months, Aadam revealed that he actually lived in Kosovo and had only pretended to live in New York so Mackenzie would keep chatting with him. The more attached she became to Aadam, the more detached she became from her family.

John and Stephanie, Mackenzie's parents, had no clue what was behind their daughter's change in personality, her surprising interest in Islam, her suddenly modest dress, and her withdrawal from friends and family. When Mackenzie's attachment to Aadam increased even more and they became "engaged," she started making plans to secretly fly to Kosovo where she and Aadam would be married.

But twenty-five days before Mackenzie was scheduled to fly to Kosovo, John found out about his daughter's dangerous plan when three of her friends came forward. John contacted the FBI, and asked for help. Though the FBI did not believe Aadam was trying to radicalize Mackenzie, they were concerned about his intentions, as that part of Kosovo was known for sex-trafficking, human-trafficking, and citizenship frauds. Kosovo was no place for an unaccompanied, nave teenager to secretly travel and marry a stranger she knew only through online chats. Within the limited time remaining before Mackenzie's departure, John and Stephanie had to confront Mackenzie and stop her before she would be lost to them forever.

Told from the viewpoint of both father and daughter, Almost Gone follows Mackenzie's network of lies and deceit and her parents' escalating bewilderment and alarm. More than a cautionary tale, this is the incredible story of unconditional parental love, unwavering faith, and how God helped a family save their daughter from a relationship that jeopardized not only her happiness, but also her safety.

Product details

• Authors: Naomi Chabongwa
• Publisher: Grin Verlag
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2017
• EAN: 9783668487826
• ISBN: 978-3-668-48782-6
• No. of pages: 116
• Dimensions: 148 mm x 210 mm x 7 mm
• Weight: 180 g
• Subject: Travel > Map accessories, miscellaneous