BUILDING THE PEOPLE FIRST: THE CASE FOR A NATIONAL HOSPITALITY SKILLS FRAMEWORK
Nigeria’s ambition to become a leading tourism destination will remain unrealised without urgent and sustained investment in people and skills, Karl Hala, Group General Manager, Continental Hotels Group, has said.
Speaking to aviation and tourism stakeholders at the AeroWest Summit 2026, themed “Building the Tourism Capacity & Experience That Make Destinations Thrive,” Hala stressed that physical infrastructure alone cannot create a thriving tourism economy.
«“Hospitality is ultimately not about buildings. It is about people. You can build the most magnificent hotel in Africa — but without trained people, you simply have an expensive building,” he said.»
Hala pointed to emerging partnerships designed to address Nigeria’s hospitality skills gap through the proposed Continental Hospitality Academy.
He said the initiative is being developed through engagements with the Ministry of Education, UNICEF Generation Unlimited, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), GIZ, and the Digital Bridge Institute, with the aim of creating a more structured and future-focused pathway into the hospitality industry.
“The objective is to move beyond training for entry-level jobs. We should train young Nigerians to become internationally competitive hospitality professionals — people who can build careers, become entrepreneurs and succeed in Lagos, Abuja, Accra, Dubai or London. And ideally, choose to build their future here,” Hala said.
According to him, the proposed framework will combine competency-based hospitality training with digital skills, artificial intelligence and 21st-century employability competencies.
“That is tourism infrastructure too,” Hala noted.
He explained that the initiative is closely aligned with the Group’s operations at Lagos Continental Hotel and Abuja Continental Hotel, where the quality of service delivery depends heavily on developing a strong pipeline of skilled Nigerian professionals.
“When our people are world-class, our service is world-class. When our service is world-class, demand follows. That is how we build careers and build a tourism economy at the same time,” he added.
Hala’s call underscores a broader imperative for Nigeria’s tourism sector: skills development must be treated as core tourism infrastructure, not as an afterthought.
A national hospitality skills framework, anchored in industry needs and supported by government, development partners and the private sector, could help create a workforce capable of competing globally while strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to build a sustainable domestic tourism economy.
