ISTEP Tanzania 2015 – Building Strong Partnerships in Tanzania.

Being asked to be a part of the NSCC team to travel to Tanzania again was an honour.  Having been involved with the Inception Mission project for VETA Mikumi in 2009, I was tremendously excited to return to such a beautiful country and begin a new partnership with the VETA Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (VHTTI) in Arusha.

The mission began with an ISTEP College Partnership Orientation in Dar es Salaam.  The orientation provided us with an opportunity to meet our partners at VHTTI as well as other partners and stakeholders in the Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) program.  After a few days of learning about the projects, partners and expectations it was time to travel to Arusha to visit VHTTI and meet some of the faculty, staff and industry leaders in Tourism.

This was my first time to Arusha, and like Canada in many ways, I found it amazing how different various parts of the country could look (Arusha and Mikumi are both beautiful, yet very different landscapes).  We had some excellent meetings in Arusha.  After touring the new Hotel and the VHTTI Campus we were able to meet with the Tourism and Hospitality faculty and staff at the Campus and discuss the project (expectations and aspirations).  The following days we had an opportunity to meet with some key Industry members in Arusha and surrounding area; this was tremendously helpful not only to get a feel for what the Industry’s needs were, but also to meet potential cohorts for the project.

While the opportunities and possibilities in with this project (and VHTTI) are endless, it will be an exciting undertaking to work with our Tanzanian partners to help them produce quality education for the future employees and leaders of the country’s Tourism Industry.

Will it work in Tanzania?  YES IT WILL!!! 🙂

Wendi Dewey

Tourism Management Faculty

NSCC Akerley Campus