The BAHAMAS Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, Stuart Bowe, told teachers participating in its 10th annual summer educators’s internship programme that the industry faced an “uncertain future” without serious commitments to education.
“Without serious commitments to education, and in the workplace to them, our beautiful Bahamas and the tourism industry will face an uncertain future,” Mr Bowe said.
“You’ve heard it said that the Bahamas is a high cost destination; that is a fact. We cannot run away from it unless we as Bahamians are willing to lower our standard of living, and I don’t believe we are. There is a price we must pay for being a high-cost tourism destination, and that price is in consistently delivering world class, exceptional service.”
The BHTA president warned: “If we don’t, travellers will simply opt to spend their money somewhere else and that impacts every one of us. Today, bad news travels fast. A bad visitor experience is showcased almost instantly to the world on the social media through online news services and online rating services like TripAdvisor.”
The BHTA’s annual summer educators’ internship programme exposes teachers to different types of careers in the tourism industry via an initiative between the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Tourism.
Through the programme, the BHTA and the Ministries have been able to bring the industry to the table with educators to review and upgrade junior high school and high school tourism-related curriculum, ensuring it is relevant to today’s workplace environment.
Mr Bowe announced that Bridget Murray, who has been with the BHTA for seven years, will now assume the position of director of industry training at the Culinary Hospitality Management Institute at the College of the Bahamas.
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