CARIBBEAN: Boosting Tourism a Team Effort

Boosting Tourism A TEAM Effort - Monday 07, April-2003

A NEW programme to generate awareness among youths to the tourism sector and 
foster new crops of workers has been launched. 
The Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) programme, Tourism, 
Education, Awareness and Me (TEAM), has been divided into five modules with 
leaders for each, who will have responsibility for executing the various 
components. 

The five modules are: adopt-a-school, careers-road-show, job attachments, 
strategic linkage and tourism awareness. The job attachments module was 
identified by first vice-president of the BHTA, Jon Martineau, as one of the 
most important parts of the programme. 

Martineau chided members for not opening their doors to trainees, adding that 
they had contributed to the loss of several people in the industry over the 
years as a result. 

As a signal of her own endorsement to the job attachment element, director 
general of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism in Jamaica, Carolle Guntley, 
pledged to find accommodation and assist with placements at Jamaican 
properties, provided Barbados was prepared to reciprocate. 

The Jamaica tourism boss fully endorsed the programme and cautioned members 
against giving interns only menial tasks to perform when on plant and sold 
the idea of a mentorship programme. 

She also suggested that the TEAM concept be introduced to students at an 
early age, making it easier to influence them to work in the industry. 

Guntley encouraged all the players to make themselves available for questions 
and to facilitate tours when anyone expressed an interest. 



SOURCE: Barbados Nation