ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) — Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, says he is confident that the recently launched Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI) will be a catalyst in securing the country’s competitive advantage as a preferred tourism destination for travel industry partners and travellers.

Bartlett was speaking at the official launch of a three-month pilot project marking the start of the work of the JCTI on Wednesday at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James.

The minister said the JCTI, which is expected to become a globally competitive certification institution, will work with and through the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, which will support the “training and certification agenda”.

The role of the JCTI, which is part of the Government’s Human Capital Development Plan, is to facilitate the certification and licensure of Jamaicans working in tourism and to facilitate innovation in tourism.

Bartlett said the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will also support the data gathering and analysis “and the thrust to improve terms and conditions of work”.

“The JCTI was born out of Vision 2030’s Tourism Sector Development Plan, which calls for the development of a training institution focused on developing a management cadre with the skills, knowledge and motivation required by tourism entities,” the minister explained.

“The need to prioritise the development of a strategic plan for human capital development to support the tourism sector is not a mere consideration but an absolute necessity,” he contended. Bartlett said JCTI will offer access to certification programmes that support existing hospitality offerings at several tertiary institutions in Jamaica, in areas such as hospitality management, tourism management, culinary arts and spa management, among others.

“In essence, it will operate like the Norman Manley Law School, which provides the requisite accreditation for lawyers across the region,” he said.

Under the JCTI’s pilot project, which begins in this month, 50 candidates, 25 each from the hospitality/tourism sector and the culinary arts, will be assessed and certified, and, if successful, will be assigned requisite designations, including hospitality supervisor, certified culinarian, chef de cuisine, chef de partie and sous chef.

The programme will include hands-on work in the industry as well as the review of manuals and workbooks.

Through the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), the pilot will have the support of seven hotels – the Spanish Court, Mariott Courtyard and The Jamaica Pegasus in Kingston; Moon Palace and RIU in Ocho Rios; and Sandals and Half Moon in Montego Bay.