WESTERN BUREAU — Chairman of the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST), Royston Hopkin, on Thursday called for more emphasis to be placed on the development of human resources in the regions’ tourism sector in an effort to sustain economic growth within the industry.

“Today if a hotel is built, there are no resources to harness our Caribbean nationals to run these facilities,” Hopkin pointed out. “Today in the Caribbean, after 60 years, and after the last 30 years of recognising that tourism is our number one industry, there are no institutions in the Caribbean to train an executive chef.”

He noted that many hotels in the region have to rely on ex-patriots to fill management positions and these persons are the ones earning “first world wages” in the region.

“In Grenada, for instance, at least seven of the top hotels in that island have ex-patriot chefs in their kitchens, and in other areas of the Caribbean there are a lot of guys from overseas who come in as directors of tourism,” Hopkin maintained.

He was addressing the fourth Caribbean Media Exchange on sustainable tourism (CMEx) at the Half Moon Tennis and Beach Club, in Montego Bay, under the theme “maximising the economic impact on tourism”.

The CAST executive called on the more than 50 Caribbean and United States journalists attending the conference to use their influence to get more young people in the region involved in the development of the industry.

“You are one of the integral vehicles that has to be used to enlighten our people of the value and the importance of the industry that will drive us into the future,” he told members of the media.

He later told the Observer that if the tourism industry is to continue to grow in the region, the media would have to play a pivotal role in what he described as an “awareness campaign”.

Hopkin argued that although some progress has been made over the years, the media needs to go much further to enhance the industry.

“We can’t keep creeping along, we have to make a real heroic step forward and that step can only be done by the media,” he urged.

He argued that the media has the power to highlight the success stories, and to enlighten and motivate the population to recognise that tourism is the number one industry, which is driving the region’s economy.

The four-day media exchange conference has already tackled issues such as expanding the social and economic benefits of tourism, the rapidly changing tourism landscape and keeping tourism revenues up in down times.

Other topics to be discussed include:

* developing a strong hotel sector;

* the Caribbean’s cruise sector;

* sex tourism and the impact of HIV/Aids; and

* the way forward for Caribbean tourism.

The conference is organised by Counterpart International, and according to CEO Lelei LeLaulu, the event is timely in light of the difficulties being experienced in the industry.

“This conference will provide a number of lessons which we can use productively in the future,” he added.