The Ministry of Tourism through its training arm, the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI), is seeking to recruit between 2000 to 3000 high school graduates to tackle its labour challenges.

This announcement was made by Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett in Parliament today (June 20) as he closed out the 2023/2024 Sectoral Debate.

“Madam Speaker, with support from partners, the JCTI is moving to recruit team members from among students graduating from high school in June and July 2023. The goal is to attract 2,000 to 3,000 candidates,” the Minister said.

The JCTI is a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), an agency of the Ministry of Tourism which is mandated to facilitate the development of Jamaica’s valuable human capital and support innovation in the tourism sector.

The Minister also shared that the TEF has liaised with the HEART NSTA Trust to develop a Job Readiness Programme specifically for new entrants to the tourism sector.

This will see candidates who have successfully completed training receiving a National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) Certificate.

The Hospitality & Tourism Management (HTM) programme

Bartlett gave lauded to the Hospitality & Tourism Management (HTM) programme which saw 99 high school students who successfully completed the two-year programme receiving certificates from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute.

“One of those kids from Anchovy High School in St. James had a perfect score of 100 out of 100! All now
have jobs in the sector”, he said.

The Tourism Minister noted that these programmes are geared towards attracting new recruits and helping them to prepare for the available jobs in the sector.

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