The Jordan Hotels Association (JHA) has signed a cooperation agreement with the Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) to establish a practical partnership focused on identifying the hotel sector’s actual workforce and professional skills requirements and translating them into specialised training programmes to be implemented by the Corporation. The agreement aims to align training outcomes with labour market needs and enhance employment opportunities for Jordanian youth.

The agreement was signed on behalf of the Jordan Hotels Association by Vice Chairman Hani Al-Dabbas, in the presence of several members of the Association’s Board of Directors. The Vocational Training Corporation was represented by its Director General, Eng. Raafat Mousa Al-Sawafeen.

Al-Dabbas emphasised that the true value of this agreement lies in moving beyond traditional training towards programmes based on actual employment needs. He noted that developing the hotel sector begins with investing in people, stressing that service quality and the competitiveness of hotel establishments are directly linked to the competence of their workforce and its ability to keep pace with developments in the hospitality industry.

He added that the Association will identify hotels’ needs in terms of required specialisations and professional skills and communicate them to the Corporation to support the development and implementation of training programmes that respond to these needs. He stressed that the objective is not training in itself, but rather transforming training into a genuine pathway to employment and narrowing the gap between training outcomes and employers’ requirements.

For his part, Eng. Raafat Mousa Al-Sawafeen affirmed that this partnership reflects the Corporation’s commitment to developing training programmes based on actual labour market demand and benefiting from the expertise of the hotel sector in identifying professional priorities. This approach will contribute to preparing qualified Jordanian professionals capable of integrating efficiently into the workplace.

The agreement establishes a model of integration between the public and private sectors, whereby the Association identifies and monitors the needs of the hotel labour market, while the Corporation translates these needs into practical training and qualification programmes. This cooperation is expected to enhance employment opportunities, improve hotel service quality, strengthen the competitiveness of Jordan’s tourism sector, and support its sustainable growth.