Hospitality Institute closes amid covid19 concerns

The TT Hospitality and Tourism Institute (TTHTI) has closed its doors amid the spread of the covid19 in TT, according to a media release issued by the institute on Friday afternoon.

The release said in addition to concerns of community spread of the virus, there were also challenges in effectively generating cash during the lockdown.

"Unfortunately, based on the recent confirmation of community spread of covid19 throughout TT, along with rapid acceleration of positive cases and unfortunate increases in deaths, on August 15 the Prime Minister outlined partial lockdown measures on certain non-essential businesses and activities which also included the likely continued closure of educational establishments until December 31.

"The stark reality is that the institute has been and will be unable to effectively generate revenue from its suite of educational products and services for a nine-month period in 2020.

The present closure period over the past five months has already eroded the institute’s working capital and stymied the achievement of revenue forecasts outlined in its viable growth plan initiated in December 2019."

Despite the successful execution of online examinations through the newly established Admissions, Enrollment and Learner Experience (AELE) department, the TTHTI said owing to the nature of some courses, in-person training sessions would be necessary but not possible as the number of covid19 cases continues to rise.

The release also announced that a virtual town hall meeting would be held "in the coming weeks" to answer questions and address the concerns of students in relation to their academic status.

Students are encouraged to engage the AELE department with questions by e-mailing aele@tthti.edu.tt.