Investigation of Training Needs and Capacity Building in the Hotel Industry in Borno State, North East Nigeria

This study investigates training needs and capacity building gaps in the hotel industry in Borno State, North East Nigeria, a region whose hospitality sector is recovering from sustained disruption linked to security challenges in the Lake Chad Basin area. Workforce development is a critical enabler of service quality improvement and industry resilience, yet empirical assessments of training needs specific to the Borno hotel context are scarce. A mixed-method research design is adopted with questionnaires administered to 120 hotel employees at various levels and structured interviews conducted with 15 hotel general managers in Maiduguri. A training needs analysis framework is applied to identify gaps between current employee competencies and required performance standards across operational departments. Findings reveal that the most significant training deficiencies exist in digital front office management, professional food service delivery, and customer complaint handling, all of which directly affect guest satisfaction outcomes. Management-level training needs in financial management and human resources are also identified as critical. The study finds that disruptions to formal training cycles between 2016 and 2022 have compounded existing skill deficits. It recommends the establishment of a Borno State hotel industry training fund, partnerships with national hospitality training institutions for remote and mobile training delivery, and government-subsidised capacity building programmes targeted at hotels reopening in previously affected areas. Keywords: training needs analysis, hospitality workforce, capacity building, Borno State, hotel management