ST JAMES, Jamaica — Close to 2,000 graduates of the latest Ministry of Tourism course for hospitality workers received their certificates at a recent ceremony at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James.

The five-month course was handled by the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI), a subsidiary of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, and benefited 1,787 graduates who received accreditation as hospitality supervisors, and Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics (CHIA) delivered through the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute and Smith Travel Research (STR), the global source for bench-marking and forecasting data in the sector.

Executive Director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, Dr Carey Wallace, informed graduates and their guests that over 10,000 Jamaicans in the hospitality sector have received training through the JCTI’s innovations over the past five years. The latest group graduating from programmes that took place between April 2021 and August 2022 were honoured on November 3.

Speaking virtually during the ceremony, Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, congratulated the graduates, noting that certification of the industry’s workers should be celebrated. He also declared that discussions were underway, with the Montego Bay Community College, the University of Technology (UTech), and HEART College of Hospitality Services to align their programmes with the American Culinary Federation (ACF).

“This means that, within a year, students at the institutions will no longer have to sit certification examinations, but will be awarded the certified culinarian or certified pastry culinarian credentials at graduation,” he stated.

The Minister also announced that the JCTI is in the final stages of starting a new one-year programme to expedite the certification of sous chefs in collaboration with HEART/NSTA Trust and the ACF.

“So, within a year, candidates will develop the skills and gain much needed international experience,” he said.

Bartlett also pointed out that as the tourism sector emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the JCTI has expanded certification to incorporate areas in the sector that have experienced shortage of personnel.

“Two groups – chefs and food and beverage managers – were in high demand; that, of course, led to the JCTI undertaking a number of initiatives during the past year,” he pointed out.

The Minister said one of these initiatives was the establishment of a data base of certified persons, launched by the Ministry and the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) last year. It allows certified persons to upload their resumés and certificates and enables employers to post job openings and receive applications.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Jennifer Griffith, also encouraged the graduates to take advantage of the opportunities they have been presented and urged the audience to applaud their successes.

“The opportunities lie before you and they are vast, they are rich and they are diverse. The travel and tourism industry has evolved exponentially over the last decade. The travellers desire new experiences. Digitisation, technological development, the rise of Air BnB, the impact of globalisation, and other dynamic trends have changed the face of the industry,” she argued.

She said that the changes and the transformation taking place in the industry are creating new business models, skillsets and career opportunities.

“I am pleased to note that the JCTI has responded fervently to these new human capital challenges and demands, and has been honing their skills to suitably provide a certified work force to supply the tourism industry,” the permanent secretary said.

Balford Henry