Hundreds of hotel rooms and jobs to come

The week of September 22-28 was observed as Tourism Awareness Week, with World Tourism Day being the 27th.

Under the theme ‘Tourism and Jobs – A better future for all’, the Ministry of Tourism highlighted its human capital development strategy, as well as the number of traditional and non-traditional jobs available in the sector.

Key messages that were conveyed during the week included tourism is a strong driver of economic growth and development; it provides several income-earning opportunities; careers in tourism are wide and diverse; and tourism is an inclusive industry.

Kicking off with a church service at Church on the Rock in St Andrew, the week included career talks at select schools islandwide; a career expo at the Jamaica Tourist Board library in New Kingston; and a Tourism Linkages Network pop-up kitchen and fashion show at the PanJam Breezeway, also in New Kingston.

On World Tourism Day, there was a tourism career expo and concert inside The Jamaica Pegasus hotel. After the talks and presentations, patrons, mainly high-school students, were treated to top-class entertainment from Agent Sasco and others. It was a fitting way to end the World Tourism Day activities, entertainment being a major element of tourism and hospitality.

World Tourism Day is celebrated “to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value” the Ministry of Tourism said. “As the day set aside in the United Nations calendar, the celebration seeks to highlight tourism’s potential to contribute to reaching the sustainable development goals and addressing some of the most pressing challenges of today,” the ministry also said.

According to the ministry, the industry drives nine per cent of Jamaica’s gross domestic product (GDP) and contributes in revenue terms some 20 per cent of GDP. For January-June 2019, real GDP was estimated to have increased by 1.4 per cent, relative to the corresponding period for 2018. This increase was due to the growth in the service industry, particularly with hotels and restaurants. The sector earnings have grown from US$369 million in 2017 to US$431 million in 2018. Tourism now directly employs 120,000 people or 10 per cent of the labour force.

“This tourism growth underscores the invaluable worth of the sector as a powerful driver of economic and social development. This continued growth of the tourism sector in Jamaica will depend on the right people with the right skills being available to meet the new human capital demands of the sector,” the ministry said.

There will be more job opportunities this year, the ministry said, with some 1,005 new hotel rooms; and come next year, according to the ministry, “Jamaica will witness the largest growth in hotel rooms ever, with the expansion of current hotels and the construction of new ones.

“When you consider the ratio of 2.3 employees per room, that is another 41,000 jobs. This makes the need for a cadre of well-trained, quality workers to support the sector an absolute priority,” the ministry also said.

The tourism ministry also mentioned the creation of the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation, an international accreditation platform for employees within the sector. Since April 2018, some 1,893 people have been certified, and another 514 are in training. The facility offers a practical curriculum that complements existing hospitality programmes at the country’s tertiary institutions, and targets senior hospitality professionals.

“Prioritising human capital development is an absolute necessity, as we seek to improve employment opportunities in the sector and sustain our award-winning and globally competitive tourism product. It is for this reason we are proud to join the world in celebrating a week, which embraces the theme, ‘Tourism and jobs – a better future for all’,” the ministry stated.