Mid-term review Bhutanese tourism and hospitality sector to establish a high quality training facility in Bhutan

• Worked with a company called AGEG, based in Germany.

The Austrian Government, together with the Government of Bhutan, is financing a Technical Assistance (TA) in order to establish a high quality training facility in Bhutan. This in order to significantly boost the quality of the Bhutanese tourism and hospitality sector.

RRD, together with the German consultancy firm AGEG, has conducted a mid-term review - by order of the Austrian Government to determine, the relevance, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the facility.

Training infrastructure

The training infrastructure consisted of a renovated and adapted old hotel in Upper Mothithang in Thimphu and a training hotel with passive house/ low energy standards. Furthermore, capacity building aimed at developing and strengthening the capacity of staff was provided in order to support the establishment of an effective and efficient organisation of the Facility and the Training Hotel. Lastly, a curriculum for a two-year diploma course, meeting international standards, for prospective students and adequate teaching material was provided for.

The vision for this facility was to become an independent institute, to be affiliated with the Tourism Schools Salzburg and a centre of excellence for tourism and hospitality training in Bhutan offering not only a two year diploma programme but also vocational training-related and possible higher qualifications in the future. Furthermore, the training infrastructure was planned in such a way that practice and theory for all training aspects could be combined.