Health And Safety Added To Online Training For Tourism Workers

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says a health and safety protocol component has been added to the free online training for tourism workers.

Speaking at a digital press conference on April 17, he informed that the training is expected to be launched next Wednesday (April 22), at 2:00 p.m. through the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI).

The Minister noted that workers and stakeholders in the sector have indicated their interest and given support for the online training initiative.

“It will cover a whole range of areas, not just training in basic skills in the industry and supervisory skills, and so on, but we are going to have a big focus on health protocols,” he said.

“We are going to be looking at what are some of the new ways in which the hoteliers are going to have to operate in terms of securing the health of the nation while also securing the health of the visitors. This, I think, is a new dimension to the programme,” Mr. Bartlett added.

The training forms part of measures being implemented by the Government to help tourism workers to scale up their capacity, so they can provide a higher quality of service after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

In the meantime, Mr. Bartlett said Professor Gordon Shirley will chair the Cruise Recovery Programme for COVID-19.

He said the panel that has been established includes some of the best minds in the cruise sector, adding that they are slated to meet as early as next Monday (April 20) .

“The land-based tourism, the bread and butter side of our tourism, that team, which I chair, will also start working on Monday and it again consists of all the key stakeholders and major players in the industry,” he said.

Mr. Bartlett indicated that discussions are ongoing with a major international company to develop technical aspects of a plan that will be presented to the various partners within the sector.

“What we are trying to create is a new tourism after COVID-19. We recognise the changes that are going to take place, the primacy of health security and to ensure that our assurance is there, not just as a promise to the market… but a promise to ourselves that we will make sure that all the citizens of Jamaica are safe and secure and are practising the highest level of health protocols available,” he said.