Last Friday (October 21), Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett officially launched the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI) Database of Certified Persons, which enables these persons to connect with potential employers in the industry more effectively.

The database is accessible via website, https://tef.gov.jm/jcti/directory/, and is in collaboration with the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA).

Speaking to the importance of the database, Bartlett said it woudl not only include workers certified through the JCTI but also professionals and graduates of HEART Trust NSTA, and colleges, as well as persons who have certifications not facilitated by JCTI.

Additionally, individuals certified through the JCTI, who are seeking jobs, and establishments
needing employers will be able to use the database to meet their needs.

Bartlett said this database of certified workers is critical especially at this time as the sector has lost workers consequent to the shutting down of tourism by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that some workers had created new opportunities and went on to say that, “what that means is that we have to pivot, we have to reimagine our own labour market arrangements to be more attractive to those people who are still available to us”.

He noted that some workers had created new opportunities and went on to say that, “what that
means is that we have to pivot, we have to reimagine our own labour market arrangements to be more attractive to those people who are still available to us”.

5,000 YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE TRAINED

Bartlett said that, having recognised that “we are not going to get back those whom we have
lost,” the JCTI was creating new players.

The minister said training had to be accelerated and that a programme was being devised for about 5,000 young people to be trained in basic job readiness, customer service and food safety skills over the next six to eight weeks. This would be done across the north coast, from Port Maria to Negril.

The JHTA and HEART NSTA Trust will be collaborating with the JCTI on this special training and certification programme to ensure a cadre of workers will be available for immediate employment with the start of the winter tourist season.

Bartlett said the next step after certification would be the classification of workers in the trade and the setting of wage scales for the different categories. He said adopting the human capital development approach of certifying, classifying, and remunerating accordingly “will be the three steps towards the market reform that the tourism industry needs to ensure that we remain attractive”.

‘GREENER PASTURES IN THE NORTH’

Outgoing JHTA President Clifton Reader also noted that COVID made a lot of people rethink their lives and many went into home-grown businesses and have done exceptionally well, while others had been attracted to “greener pastures in the North”.

He said a survey would be conducted shortly to determine how many workers the sector had lost.

Reader felt that the industry could compete but pointed out that supply and demand were putting pressure on hotels and attractions “to look not only at wages but also benefits packages”.

He felt that having examined some best practices in the hotel industry he was persuaded that a
meaningful gratuity programme, “which if implemented properly, could see up to a 100 per cent
increase in salary for workers”.

A HOTEL NOT A HOTEL UNTIL…

Reader said human capital must be protected at all costs, noting, “a hotel is not a hotel ’til you have trained, capable staff in them and we must, as a promise, take care of that valuable resource that we have”.

Since its establishment five years ago, the JCTI has certified over 10,000 tourism workers, from entry level up to the level of executive chefs.

The brainchild of Bartlett, the JCTI was established within the ministry in 2017 to provide certification for industry workers and students studying hospitality, tourism, and culinary arts.

It subsequently included certification programmes for hospitality supervisors, spa supervisors, ServSafe professionals, hospitality information analytics, customer service professionals, and the Hospitality & Tourism Management Programme for high school students.