More than 400 students from 17 schools across the island participated in the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI) inaugural Career Expo on Friday (March 3) held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James.

The expo was hosted in collaboration with the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and provided an opportunity for secondary and tertiary students to get a first-hand look at the myriad careers in the tourism sector.

Representatives from 19 organisations in the tourism sector discussed more than 150 careers with students in attendance.

In his address at the opening ceremony, Edmund Bartlett, minister of tourism outlined that the expo sought to help students get an understanding of the sector and the skills required to pursue a career in tourism.

The minister further noted that the purpose of the expo was also to introduce high school and college students to the traditional and non-traditional opportunities available in the sector.

He told the students that they are “going to be involved in a new industry that has emerged since COVID… an industry that has been affected by what we call supply-chain disruptions and the essence of which was the human capital disruption,  and that disruption has put us in a position where we have to reinvent ourselves or reimagine ourselves”.

For her part, Jennifer Griffith, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Tourism said that the expo was aimed at assisting students in attendance to make an informed decision on “what pathway you would like to take in tourism”.

She encouraged students to take advantage of the opportunity the expo presented and get as much career advice and information as possible.

The JCTI, which was started in 2017, is a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF). It is tasked with facilitating the development of Jamaica’s valuable human capital and supporting innovation in the tourism sector.