Approximately 90 hospitality and tourism workers who attended professional development workshops October 1-3 received completion certificates on Friday. In photo: The awardees holding their certificates high at the end of the certificate ceremony. Story on page .
SIMPSON BAY--Approximately ninety hospitality and tourism workers who attended professional development workshops between October 1 and 3 received completion certificates on Friday in a ceremony held at Simpson Bay Resort and Marina.
The workshops were hosted by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Education Foundation (CHTAEF) in collaboration with Interval International. They workshops focused on four categories of workers: supervisors and managers, engineers and maintenance, front desk, and housekeeping. In total, 86 persons participated in the workshops, some in multiple categories.
“Holding a certificate in a particular field means you are qualified to do the work. … You took advantage of an opportunity to improve your skill set, to become even more remarkable than you are already,” said caretaker Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Minister Stuart Johnson, who gave an address at the ceremony.
The speakers at the ceremony paid special attention to the role of hospitality and tourism workers in a thriving tourism industry.
“As we can continue to sustainably rebuild St. Maarten’s economy and redefine our tourism product, let me remind you, our human resources are our greatest assets and an ingredient that we need,” said Johnson.
“Tourism is not just about the people that are received, but it is about the people who are receiving them. … This is why, in improving a destination, the first place to look is [at – Ed.] the people who make the destination last,” said St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) Executive Director Wyb Meijer.
“Our industry is flourishing, but there will always be competing forces out there. So, it is very important for us to ensure that our hospitality workforce and our Caribbean nationals at large have access to the best education and training, and prepare them to ensure that the Caribbean region retains its position at the top of the world’s most desirable destinations,” said CHTAEF Chairperson Karolin Troubetzkoy.
CHTAEF was established in 1986 as an independent non-profit organisation. It offers scholarships and special assistance for the education of Caribbean tourism industry personnel and students pursuing tourism and hospitality careers.
Interval International is a private company that operates membership programmes for vacationers and provides value-added services to its developer clients and homeowners’ associations.
CHTAEF and Interval have been partnering for some time on educational initiatives for hospitality and tourism workers. They decided to host professional development trainings in Caribbean countries to bring education to a wider range of persons, beginning with workshops in Aruba in 2018. This professional training workshop was the first to be held in St. Maarten.
