Hoteliers hunt thousands for tourism workforce

WESTERN BUREAU:

THE JAMAICA Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) will engage in a massive drive to ramp up employment by thousands across the country with looming fear that the workforce deficit could undermine visitor experience during the winter tourist season, which starts on December 15.

This has been listed by Robin Russell as a major priority following his election as president of the leading hoteliers’ body at its AGM on Saturday at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa.

“I am humbled and honoured that the association has chosen me as their president, and I look forward to a very successful year leading this organisation,” said Russell, whose new executive includes vice-presidents Chris Jarrett (first), Vana Taylor (second), Karen Lannigan (third), and Shernett Crichton (fourth).

Continuing, in an interview with The Gleaner, he said: “Now that COVID is behind us and we’re in a place of recovery, one of the biggest challenges we’re facing now is employment.

“It’s hard to fathom the numbers … . In Jamaica, we’re looking at 3,000, 4,000 people that are needed in the industry now. It could be more, it could be less,” he said. “I know that everybody has been very aggressive in trying to find those vacancies filled, so it’s hard to say where we are now.”

The vacancies, which he said are varied, include chefs, waiters, maintenance staff, and others from different departments.

“We’re looking for all the talent to come out,” said Russell.

With travelling severely restricted after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic in March 2020, Jamaica’s tourism sector ground to a halt for threee months, haemorrhaging 135,000 jobs.

Though the sector has largely recovered since then, Russell shared that some former tourism workers who transitioned into other employment opportunities have chosen to stay away from the industry.

“It’s a global trend now that employment is not there, so we’re going to be working very closely with HEART, the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI), and all the educational facilities to see if we can get our employees trained to see if we can get new employees in the trade and really build our workforce where we want it,” Russell said.

“We’ve created a database with HEART and JCTI in getting workers registered, and then hotels registering with that, putting the numbers that we want, reaching out to the other training centres in that database to see if we can connect workers to the properties. This is not only in areas that the people are working, but from all over the island.

Russell, one of the owners of Deja Resort on Jimmy Cliff Boulevard in Montego Bay and a director of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, said that while there is an urgent need for hotel industry workers, tourist arrivals are improving with the winter season weeks away.

“We had a bumper summer. We’re looking at a very good winter season, and if we don’t have the bodies in the hotels, it will not be a good winter season for the experience of the guests. And that is the most important thing. When guests come to Jamaica, they get a good experience, and part of that experience in Jamaica is their interaction with Jamaican people,” related Russell.

Russell said that hotels are now offering add-ons to woo workers as well as relocation bonuses and rent subsidies.

The JHTA is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

audley.boyd@gleanerjm.com