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Gov’t Partners with Int’l Tourism Experts to Design Hospitality School

By: , January 13, 2017

The Key Point:

The Government has partnered with professionals from international tourism training institutions for the design and development of a hospitality school, which is set to be opened in 2018.
Gov’t Partners with Int’l Tourism Experts to Design Hospitality School
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (3rd left) and Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (4th left) participate in the signing of an agreement for the development of a business plan for the design of Jamaica’s first Hospitality School, during a ceremony at Jamaica House on Wednesday, January 11. Others (seated from left) are Executive Director of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Joy Roberts; Permanent Secretary in the Tourism Ministry, Jennifer Griffith; and Professor Emeritus of George Washington University, Donald Hawkins. Standing are Chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), Godfrey Dyer; and Coordinator of the Hospitality School project, Carol Rose Brown. Prof. Hawkins will lead a team of professionals tasked with developing the design of the school.

The Facts

  • Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, said Professor Emeritus of Management and Tourism Studies, George Washington University, Donald Hawkins, will be leading a team tasked with developing the design of the institution and its programmes.
  • Minister Bartlett said the hospitality school is central to the Government’s push to build out the tourism experience and the development of the country’s capacity to retain its position as a leading destination.

The Full Story

The Government has partnered with professionals from international tourism training institutions for the design and development of a hospitality school, which is set to be opened in 2018.

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, said Professor Emeritus of Management and Tourism Studies, George Washington University, Donald Hawkins, will be leading a team tasked with developing the design of the institution and its programmes.

Other members are Project Manager, Dr. Tony Tse and Facility Designer, Kaye Chon from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and Hotel and Curriculum Specialist, George Washington University, Professor Larry Yu.

The team, at the end of their 50-day term, is expected to produce a business plan that will serve as a guide for the establishment of the school.

Minister Bartlett, along with Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid and Professor Hawkins signed the agreement during Wednesday’s (January11) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

Minister Bartlett said the hospitality school is central to the Government’s push to build out the tourism experience and the development of the country’s capacity to retain its position as a leading destination.

He said the school will focus on training persons for middle- and upper-level positions in the industry.

“The focus of the institution will be heavily hands-on, and so we will be training for competence as well as for pedagogy,” he said, noting that the school will be constructed alongside a hotel to allow students to have practical experience in the relevant aspects of the industry.

Cabinet, on Monday, approved arrangements for the establishment of the school, which will be the first of its kind in the country.

The facility is expected to deliver training on the five ‘networks’ for visitor experience – gastronomy, knowledge, shopping, health and wellness, and sports and entertainment – on which the Government has placed strategic focus for the growth of the sector.

Last Updated: January 13, 2017

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