Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association inks partnership with CMU

 

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association has signed an agreement with the Caribbean Maritime University, which it hopes will fill labour market gaps across the region.

 

The three-year partnership will see the provision of on-the-job training and employment opportunities for CMU students in the tourism industry.

 

CHTA President Nicola Madden Greig says the collaboration is timely. 

 

"This is going to take us on a path of looking at strategically, what are some of the course requirements? What is it that CMU is offering now? How do we get the students of CMU more involved in the tourism sector? They have very specific curricula on the maritime side. Of course, we know there have been discussions with the cruise lines. But we want to see in the stopover side of things how we can utilise students who are obviously well trained and bring them more inclusive into the tourism sector. So I think this is a good start in terms of a partnership and looking at how we can deepen that relationship," she said. 

 

CMU President Professor Andrew Spencer said the institution's curricula is already strategically aligned with the industry's requirements, as the CMU offers a programme in cruise shipping and marine tourism. 

 

In addition, he said the university's focus on logistics can also be beneficial in creating more seamless systems in the hotel sector. 

 

"We just also signed up the JBDC (Jamaica Business Development Corporation) to establish an entrepreneurship hub at the CMU, which is now incubating talent," he said, noting that this talent can be incorporated in the tourism space. 

 

Professor Spencer said the ongoing knowledge sharing process is important in driving the labour force of the future.