Hotelier urges university graduates to scout for COVID opportunities

Upcoming university graduates should explore the new career opportunities that COVID-19 has opened in hospitality, advised Conroy Thompson, training and development manager at Half Moon Resorts.

“Gone are the days when it was just a front-office agent or someone going in human resource, or somebody being a chef. This pandemic has brought out different fields that we were not really prepared for fully,” said Thompson.

He emphasised the current need for cybersecurity administrators in the tourism industry amid the recent news about vulnerabilities in data security in the JAMCOVID travel and health records website.

Thompson warned that viral, cyber-based scandals are among the major threats that can affect the entire tourism industry.

The manager at Half Moon Resorts said that the health protocols of the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance of information and communications technology in the tourism sector. Thompson said that QR codes are being used to share menus with guests, kiosks are replacing front desk services, and each hotel is developing its own mobile phone app to connect with guests from a distance.

APP DEVELOPER

“Every property will need an app developer at some point because as things change, times change; they will not want to always be outsourcing,” said Thompson, an alumnus of Northern Caribbean University (NCU).

He was speaking at the Current Trends and Issues Conference held virtually by the College of Business and Management at NCU on February 22, as part of the university’s Research Week activities.

Thompson made it clear that while hotels are implementing new touchless technologies, technology is not the total response to the challenges to tourism in Jamaica, and local stakeholders have no intentions to mechanise all functions within the industry.

“People come here because of the [Jamaican] people. They are not coming here to be served by robots, or not have interactions, so we will still have to have that human element in the industry,” he explained. The hotel manager listed digital marketers, content creators, food stylists, and health and wellness managers as other emerging occupations in the industry.

He stated that in addition to technology, emerging markets like China, potential markets in South America and Latin America, and emerging sub-industries such as health and wellness, sports and entertainment, as well as youth tourism will help to shape the future of tourism in Jamaica.

Thompson encouraged those in hospitality to always continue learning industry-specific skills through free, online courses. He disclosed that he partnered with cybersecurity firm Venza last year to do spot-on training in cybersecurity, and that he is a part of the stakeholders at HEART/NSTA Trust who decide on courses that tertiary institutions should now include in their hospitality training.

“There will be a need for us to focus on skilling, reskilling, and upskilling of the industry’s labour force to remain relevant with new and emerging industry practices, while waiting for the industry’s complete revival,” Thompson said.