About MIT

The Malawi Institute of Tourism (MIT) was formerly known as the Government Hotel Staff Training School. It was established in 1975 by the Malawi Government and operated as a unit within the Department of Tourism (DOT). MIT is the only recognized government skills training institution in the country and is entrusted with the responsibility of providing hands on training in disciplines related to the tourism and hospitality industry in the country. Specific capacity was built for the school to provide courses in the following areas: Food Production; Housekeeping; Front Office Operations and Food and Beverage Services.

The initial syllabi for the training programs were developed with the assistance of the UNDP/ILO experts and were later revised in 1988.

In recent years, Tourism and Hospitality schools worldwide have broadened their curricula so that the courses they offer prepare their graduates much more than the relatively narrow field of hotel keeping. The focus is on practical as well as theoretical training, with emphasis on traditional values of services and hospitality. To this end, curricula now include a broad range of hospitality and tourism subjects like Events Management, Banquet Management, Cultural Tourism, Tour Guiding as well as business- oriented subjects such as accounting, communications, marketing, human resources management and entrepreneurship.

Today, graduates from Hospitality and Tourism schools seek careers in a wide variety of accommodation establishments – from the small remote bush lodge to timeshare resorts and luxury city centre hotels. Some graduates prefer to utilize their specialist skills in the culinary field in restaurants, contract, tour guiding, and tour operations. The recent boom in casino based development and internationally recognized convention centers have also created new and exciting opportunities. Still more graduates also seek employment in various public institutions like the departments of Tourism, Culture and Wildlife.

Regardless of which field students would like to pursue, the MIT will provide the ideal training enabling the graduates with skill and dedication to make a success of a challenging career in the hospitality and tourism industry both locally and internationally.

CORE FUNCTIONS OF MIT

Application Hotels

The Institute runs and operates 3 application hotels that provide our students with the platform to practice and harness their skills. The entire staffing consists of our students present and past. The rationale behind these hotels is to provide real life situational on the job training post classroom studies. MIT’s focus is to produce quality employees for the ever growing tourism and hospitality sector, which has been identified by the Malawi Government as a key sector for economic development.

Our Hotels include; Alendo Hotel (Blantyre), Lingadzi Inn (Lilongwe), Mzuzu Lodge (Mzuzu).

Course Options

The MIT offers a range of fulltime study, for young people looking to join the tourism and hospitality industry. The Institute also offers evening and weekend classes for those not quite so young and in most cases employees of the tourism and hospitality industry wanting to broaden their knowledge and improve their prospects of promotion. MIT also offers short courses and upgrading courses for the industry.