Tourism Ministry Aims to Improve Service Delivery in Industry

A major programme aimed at fostering a culture of excellence in service delivery in the tourism industry, will be launched during Tourism Awareness Week in December.
Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, who made the announcement at a meeting in Ocho Rios recently, said that following an intensive and successful marketing campaign by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), which has resulted in a 45 per cent increase in stopover arrivals for the year to date, there is need to guarantee the delivery of quality service in all areas of the industry.
According to the Tourism Minister, service constitutes 60 per cent of the value of the experience of the visitor that comes to the island and the provision of quality service is what will distinguish Jamaica from any other sun, sea and sand destination in the Caribbean.
“It is how we relate to the visitor on a person-to-person basis. Ask the bell hop, the waiter, the red cap (porter), any of the service providers, who deliver an excellent job of service, and at the end of the day, they will tell you that service pays and that’s just a simple indication,” he stated.
Stating that service is not servitude, Mr. Bartlett said the aim is to develop an appreciation of the value of service, to make service a profession, to make people understand that they can be wealthy because of service.
He noted that through the programme, which will be implemented by the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), “we are going to show what service means by example. I will be red cap for the day and I’m also going to be a bell hop, because I want every person in that sector to know he is in a quality service area.”