By Natasha Smith-Thomas
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (DPI) – Guyana and Barbados are currently working out the modalities for the hospitality training of 6,000 Guyanese set to get underway in Barbados.
The governments of Guyana and Barbados agreed last year on the training of Guyanese in hospitality, to effectively prepare Guyana for the imminent boom in the tourism sector.
Minister of tourism industry and commerce, Oneidge Walrond said she, along with Barbados’ minister of tourism and international transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, recently met with head of the training institute in Barbados.
His Excellency, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali said last year that Barbados has an established world-class hospitality programme which will be beneficial to Guyana. He said there is need for technical capacity and human resources to manage and work in the many hotels that will be established locally.
Providing further details on the programme, minister Walrond said the training will be hybrid, fusing theory and practice.
“The theory part is going to be hybrid, and then when we are going to do the practical, that is when we are going to have more hands-on, and face-to-face, and that is going to be what we have decided on,” minister Walrond said. “We have decided on a theory, we still have to work out the modalities of how we get the practical portion going, whether we have some of our students go to Barbados to complete, let’s say their certificate programme, whether it culminates with a practical programme at the end of it or whether we incorporate different modules of practical in the theory session…,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, minister Walrond said the establishment of the local Hospitality Training Institute is progressing smoothly, as well as all areas of collaboration with Barbados in terms of airlift and joint marketing.
