Mount Kenya University Rwanda (MKUR) has been voted the country’s best training institution in hospitality and tourism. The announcement was made on December 3 during an awarding ceremony of the “Rwanda Tourism Excellence Awards 2022.” The event, hosted at the Kigali Convention Centre, was also a culmination of the Rwanda Tourism Week which ran from November 26 to December 3, 2022 and organized by the Rwanda Chamber of Tourism under the theme, “Adopting Innovative Approaches to boost Intra- Africa travel as a drive for Tourism Business Recovery”. Speaking during the awards dinner gala, Michaella Rugwizangoga, the chief tourism officer at Rwanda development board (RDB) stated “The Rwanda tourism week has been a success, a great way to close 2022 and start another year to implement signed partnerships and what we have learnt. This way, we shall be moving in the right direction, assured of success in growing the industry.” The awards covered different categories targeting hotels, restaurants and coffee shops, bars and night clubs, apartments, travel agents, safari guides, tour operators, local and foreign exhibitors, and tourism and hospitality schools. In the category of schools, MKUR emerged as the best based on the following: Relevance of its programmes, quality of training, excellent faculties, and the competence and employability of its graduates. Speaking to the media in his office after receiving the award, MKUR Vice-Chancellor Designate, Prof Edwin Odhuno, said: “The school is one of our centres of excellence and is proud to be the best in the country. Our commitment to quality is witnessed by the on-going construction of a training hotel that will strengthen our training component and transform our graduands to (immediately) fit into the labour market and help build one of Rwanda’s fastest growing industries. The hotel will be one of its kind in the Great Lakes region. It will be key to a traditional model of Rwandan and international hospitality and tourism education with hands-on learning and exciting internships, leading to cutting-edge hospitality and tourism knowledge.” MKUR is targeting a five-star rating for the hotel that is expected to be ready mid next year.
