PRESS STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Minister of Tourism Explores Skills Partnership with Shaanxi Tourism Cuisine Professional College
Xi’an, China 18th September 2025
The Minister of Tourism today visited Shaanxi Tourism Cuisine Professional College in Xi’an at the invitation of the institution’s leadership. The engagement focused on appreciating the college’s training facilities and exploring areas of cooperation that can strengthen Zambia’s tourism, hospitality and education ecosystem.
Shaanxi Tourism Cuisine Professional College, established in 1994 and registered under the Ministry of Education, is a leading higher vocational institution that integrates tourism and culinary training. It is recognized as the Chinese Cuisine Association’s National Culinary Training demonstration base in Northwest China.
The college offers applied programs spanning tourism management, hotel management and digital operations, culinary arts (Chinese and Western cuisine), baking and pastry, food intelligent processing, e-commerce, airline cabin services and high-speed rail passenger services, among others.
The institution also maintains industry linkages with major Chinese airlines and five-star hotel groups to support practical training and graduate employment.
Welcoming the opportunity for collaboration, the Minister noted that Zambia is prioritizing hands-on industry-ready training to match the evolving needs of the visitor economy.
Building on the recent launch of the science laboratory at the Zambia Institute for Tourism and Hospitality Studies (ZITHS), Zambia seeks partnerships that deliver practical curricula, shared certifications, faculty exchanges and technology transfer.
“The scope for cooperation is wider than gastronomy and hospitality alone,” the Minister stated that the Ministry is advancing into high-impact service niches such as airline services, skills and creativity development, hotel management, food laboratory testing and mixology.
These are the frontiers that will raise professional standards across our tourism and hospitality value chain and prepare our young people for quality jobs.
The Ministry looks forward to collaborating with Shaanxi Tourism Cuisine Professional College to design joint programmes, develop modern training modules and facilitate internships that benefit Zambian students and industry.
“We anticipate tangible outcomes that strengthen Zambia’s human capital and service excellence,” the Minister added.
Issued by
Nelly Banda