The Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), through the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI), has so far trained and certified over 7,000 tourism workers from various categories of the industry, since its inception.
“Where we are and where our industry is going, recognised training and certification are critical so our programmes are internationally benchmarked and transferrable,” says JCTI Director CarolRose Brown in underscoring the importance of training and certification to Jamaica’s tourism industry.
“The training available through many programmes at various hotels is not offered by certified people and the participants get certificates of participation which are not recognised outside of the property,” she cautions.
TEF, as a division of the Ministry of Tourism, is charged with facilitating the human capital development component of the five pillars of sustainable development under the Tourism Linkages Network (TLN).
To achieve this, the JCTI has partnered with the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) and HEART/NSTA Trust — the national training agency.
At the onset of the pandemic, with the limitations on face-to-face training, the JCTI implemented an initiative that offered 11 free certification courses online aimed at ensuring the continued development of local tourism workers who already have work experience. The courses included: laundry attendant, guest room attendant, kitchen steward porter, ServSafe food handler, certified hospitality supervisor, introduction to Spanish, public area sanitation, hospitality team leader, certified banquet server, certified restaurant server, and DJ certification.
Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett sees the training and certification programmes offered by the JCTI as “critical to the continued growth of Jamaica’s tourism industry, offering world-class standards in all areas”.
“It is also important to those persons who received certification as they can use their certificates to get employment in tourism and hospitality anywhere in the world,” says Minister Bartlett. “With Jamaica achieving the status of being the top destination in the Caribbean, we are looking to attaining international status and so we must have international standards.”
Source: Tourism Enhancement Fund
