The University of Mpumalanga has opened a hotel in an effort to expose tourism and hospitality management students to first-hand experience in the industry.
The four-star hotel is situated within the Mbombela campus and is also open to the public.
Head of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Professor July Sibanyoni, says the initiative will also boost the tourism industry in the province.
Sibanyoni says the programme will make students more competitive when they leave the institution.
“This is the integration of the classroom teaching, the knowledge that students are gaining from the classroom. They are given an opportunity to put it into practice in this hotel. So our hospitality program is a skills-based program that these students are taught in class.”
“Then from there, they are given an opportunity to practice the skills. I mean the knowledge that they have gained from the classroom, they now integrate it into their practice and as they do this, they get an opportunity to play different roles,” says Sibanyoni.
The video below has more details:
