Bartlett: Despite training and certification, tourism sector unlikely to match other industries in remuneration

WESTERN BUREAU:

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has acknowledged that, even while efforts are being made to professionalise the local tourism sector through training and certification, wages in the sector are unlikely to reach the levels seen in other industries.

“I’m confident of the fact that, with all the professionalisation effort that we’re making, we’re still not going to be at the highest level of remuneration because of the nature of our business,” said Bartlett last Thursday, while addressing the Jamaica Youth Tourism Summit and Artisan Experiences at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Western Jamaica Campus in Montego Bay, St James.

The youth-focused seminar and interactive showcase, which is in its third staging, was held under the theme ‘Jamaica Wi Cyaah Dun: Resilient Tourism Root’ and is part of the final assessment for the Events Management course.

The initiative aims to educate, inspire, and connect secondary and tertiary-level students with key stakeholders across Jamaica’s tourism industry. It also highlights the critical role of local artisans, entrepreneurs, and creative enterprises within the tourism value chain.

Training programmes

Bartlett used the occasion to outline efforts to strengthen the sector’s workforce through structured training and certification programmes.

“What will make the difference for the industry is to professionalise the industry. The professionalisation of tourism is about training and certification of the workers of the industry,” he said.

Bartlett further explained that the Government began laying this foundation with the establishment of the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI) in 2017, which was designed to upgrade the skills and qualifications of workers across the sector.

“So, we started off by establishing the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation in 2017 and, since then, we have certified 30,000 workers across the tourism industry,” he said.

Bartlett said the certification drive is designed to create a structured system within tourism that allows workers to be trained, classified, and properly compensated according to their skill levels.

“That’s what this whole human capital development strategy is about, to change the labour market arrangements in tourism on the basis of training and certification, and then classification as a result of training and certification, and now we can remunerate according to classification,” he explained.

Long-term opportunities

While wages may remain modest compared to other sectors, Bartlett urged young people to see tourism as an industry that offers mobility and long-term opportunities.

“So, when we are inviting you, young people, to come into tourism, we are now inviting you to come into an ecosystem that will allow for you to have mobility. That is, you can move from one level to another,” he said.

Beyond wages, Bartlett stressed the importance of building a stronger labour ecosystem that fosters respect, belonging, and security for tourism workers.

“And so we want to create now a labour market ecosystem that makes the tourism worker not only feel happy about being employed but being made to feel a sense of belonging to something, a sense of place, that you are respected, and a sense that there is care and provision being made for you for the future as well,” he added.

Bartlett pointed to initiatives such as the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme and housing support programmes as part of efforts to provide long-term security for employees in the sector, noting that the measures are aimed at ensuring that tourism workers benefit more fully from the industry while creating pathways for career mobility through education and certification.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com