NEGRIL, Westmoreland — Twenty-nine youths recently graduated from a free six-week hospitality training programme, coordinated by the Beaches Sandy Bay and Grand Pineapple Resorts in Negril, aimed at developing the requisite skills needed by individuals seeking employment in the tourism industry.

The afternoon ceremony, held at the Beaches Sandy Bay conference room, saw each graduate receiving a certificate for soft and technical skills training acquired in various departments, including food and beverage, front office, administration, housekeeping, watersports, sales, weddings and finance.

The graduates included Hanover and Westmoreland residents between the ages 18 and 25 years, with little or no formal education training, as well as school leavers with a desire to acquire internationally recognised certification in the hospitality industry.

O’Brian Heron, Hotel Manager at Beaches Sandy Bay, urged the participants to recognise the hospitality training programme (HTP) as a long-term career and personal development opportunity.

“Being accepted as a trainee in this programme is being given a passport to a world of endless possibilities- we set the foundation for our participants, they must then capitalise on the many training and development opportunities open to them, and in turn work with us to grow, nurture their skills and raise the bar,” he explained.

Heron noted that his resort currently boasts a 40 per cent HTP graduate staff complement.

Fifty per cent of the employees in its Front Office Department at Beaches Sandy Bay are products of the programme and the same trends can be observed in other departments as well as at sister property Grand Pineapple Negril.

“Training programmes like these are our way of reaching out to our communities, while moulding qualified individuals to meet the work force demands of the sector,” noted Tameca Sutherland, Human Resource Executive at Grand Pineapple Negril.

“We (Sandals) are happy to report that since the inception of this training initiative, many superstars have been born,” she added.

The Sandals Resorts Hospitality Training Programme runs at six week intervals and is available to residents living in communities in which Sandals, Beaches, or Grand Pineapple Resorts are located.