SPAIN — The largest block of Spanish hoteliers and investors, Inverotel, has indicated their commitment to training, housing and pension for Jamaican tourism workers.

This follows a meeting on Friday, January 26, led by Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett.

According to a release, the meeting was among Minister Bartlett’s top priorities while he was in Spain for FITUR, the largest international tourism fair.

The group reestablished their support of training and development, housing and pension for hotel workers while highlighting how critical these benefits are to their overall operations and success.

“Our workers remain the most important resource in Jamaica’s tourism industry. They are the ones who have been able to give us an enviable repeat visitor rate of 42 per cent. Jamaica’s tourism workers have hospitality in their DNA and are the reason our visitors have unforgettable and authentic experiences,” said Bartlett.

Inverotel revealed that they are fully on board with training through the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI), the training arm of the Ministry of Tourism and hospitality programmes provided through the HEART/NSTA Trust.

The group says it is also committed to supporting other social initiatives like housing solutions and the current Tourism Workers’ Pension scheme. Discussions also looked at increasing the local supply of goods and services for the group’s operations.

“Inverotel represents the largest block of investment with approximately one-third of our room count. We have a strong relationship that has helped to change the look and feel of our tourism offerings, and so it is critical that the social initiatives for our workers be improved consistently for our mutually beneficial goals,” the Minister said.