TRAINING AND EDUCATION DEPARTMENT - Tourism Today
TRAINING AND EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
THE MINISTRY’S VISION
Our vision is to become the world’s leading practitioners of outstanding national tourism management such that our services, our products, our style and our talent are in demand for application as examples to other destinations.
THE MINISTRY’S MISSION
Our mission is to make it increasingly easier to create, sell and deliver world-class vacations experiences to the individual islands of The Bahamas; world-class according to those who work in the tourism industry and live in the respective islands, world-class according to those who invest in the industry and world-class according to the visitors to each island.
The key to providing memorable experiences is development of a quality tourism workforce. Our tourism workers are all case members with a critical role to play. (Singapore Tourism Board on Tourism Training).
The Bahamas, historically the unchallenged leader in the tourism industry in the region, is now finding its market share severely diluted, either by the emergence of new destinations or by new and more creative offerings from our allies, all designed to deliver WOW experiences to their customers.
The challenge of the Bahamian tourism industry to deliver the type of experiences described in the Director-General’s “statement of purpose” is further exacerbated by a large number of mega resort development across the length and breadth of the Commonwealth and there is no coordinated training/preparation of the workforce taking place, to enable these resorts to deliver on their customer service mandate.
Over the years, a limited manpower base, coupled with an education system which has been beset with a variety of challenges, has resulted in a scarcity of human resources, properly equipped to meet the challenges of a dynamic tourism industry of delivering on the challenges of “Making it Better in The Bahamas, Again”.
The situation as it stands today in The Bahamas is a proliferation of courses, in different areas of tourism ran at different levels, offered by a large number of individuals and organizations.
The Ministry’s Training and Education Department was recently established with its “primary intent” being to “forge ahead with a coordinated approach to training and development of not only its internal customers but also addressing the needs of the industry and the wider community.”
The Training and Education Department is mandated to ensure that we maximize awareness and use of skills training through further and higher educational establishments by creation of closer links between the tourism industry and education. Hence, having the responsibility of the Education Task Force will be part of this department.
In relation to this unit’s involvement with the tourism industry at large, it is envisioned that the Department of Training and Education will exert leadership and become a catalyst by which all education and training institutions/organizations within The Bahamas work together in developing, implementing and monitoring curricula which will adequately prepare students for careers in the tourism/hospitality industry.
Of special reference is to liaise with the following bodies:
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Labour/Immigration
Bahamas Hotel Association
Bahamas Chamber of Commerce
COB & BTVI
The Union
The formation of the Training and Education Department recognizes the role training play in an organization even though it is no major pill or universal panacea, the right
training for the right people could bring increased motivation morale efficiencies in processes to employees and positively impact all the indicators for business success.
It does not have to be “like a skin graft; sometimes it takes, sometimes it doesn’t” (Director General).
It is interesting to note that a review of Fortune 100 Best Companies to work for, one of the measures used was training. (hours/years).
#l Company (2001-2002) – Edward Jones, Stockbroker in St. Louis Training
(hours/years) – 146
#2 Company-Container Store Dallas
Training (hours/years) – 162
#21 Training on every level from self paced courses,
Study at Harvard, on on-site Master’s
Programme and tuition reimbursement with no
Cap.
The world as it exists today offers a number of new challenges chief of which are global competition, the Internet and the widespread use of technology. It is not too far fetched to summarize that the success of the new Training and Education Unit will enable the organization to “re-script”, to be effective “Fast Company” and lead the way in attracting the brightest and best talent again.
The following areas that are critical components to this Department and their primary purpose is to provide factual information, soft and basic skills training as well as customer service training, specific to the tourism business:
1. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT FOR MOT STAFF
(headed up by Leslie Norville)
Ms. Norville will work closely with the Human Resources Department with emphasis on the following:
a. Tying in the training function to the organization’s objectives.
b. Increasing the quality of learning and development.
c. Re-inventing the learning culture and the training offerings.
d. Make training more accessible to the employees.
SUMMER PROGRAMME – Jeanne Brown
The Ministry currently employs some 357 staff, distributed as follows:
New Providence 215
Grand Bahama 31
Abaco 10
` Andros 3
Exuma 6
Eleuthera 4
Bimini 4
U.S.A/Canada 71
United Kingdom 10
Germany 3
2. ORIENTATION AND REORIENTATION OF NEW AND OLD STAFF
(headed up by Gregory Barrett)
This branch of the training is to include an on-going training programme that would orient new staff to the business of tourism and the operations of the Ministry of Tourism and its related departments function with a full understanding of the role they play in the entire mix along with fully sensitizing them to the ever evolving and fine tuning of the Ministry’s business plan.
Equally as important to creating an understanding of the business of tourism for new staff is to ensure that “old” staff receive equal opportunities for on-going training as it relates specifically to the business of tourism and workings of the Ministry. The key here would be to ensure that knowledge transfer is mandatory and that we are constantly preparing and equipping our staff with the tools and knowledge that would have normally only been known by, or available to the “hierarchy”.
Mr. Kirk Ingraham will be assigned to the Orientation and Re-orientation Unit, and will continue his current training responsibilities in close collaboration with Melony Cidel and Vivian Smith.
3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING
(by Melony Cidel)
Over the past few years, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism has significantly escalated investment of its limited resources in Information Technology as part of its overall effort to maintain its competitive edge in the marketplace and to improve and streamline its general operations. These efforts are evident in the level of technology applied on its web sites, and ; in the increased efficiency of its Human Resources Department with the advent of a system called HR Perspective; in the upgrades of its main communication tool, Lotus Notes/Domino; and in the increased demand for hardware and software by its user community.
In order to realize returns on its investments, it is incumbent upon the Ministry to ensure that its greatest assets – its employees- are positioned to capitalize on those investments. This document will describe the Ministry’s plan to implement a training initiative to enhance the technical proficiency of the employees in its charge.
Objective
. The main objective of this plan is to pilot what is to become Human
Resources/Information Management effort to support continuous
improvement among the employees of the Ministry in the area of
Information Technology
The Ministry’s Archives Unit (Library Services) will be included in the equation as it should be regarded as an educational tool for both internal staff as well as the public at large. (To continue to be managed by Ms. Althea Adderley).
INDUSTRY TRAINING
This includes oversight of all related programmes already underway by The Ministry of Tourism and the broader responsibility to work closely with the industry partners at large to bring about relevance, quality and uniformity in tourism education and training for the workforce.
The units currently under the Ministry of Tourism are as follows:
a. BAHAMAHOST (INDUSTRY TRAINING):
WHAT IS BAHAMAHOST?
Bahamahost is a training programme designed by the Ministry of Tourism. The programme familiarizes the participants with correct and accurate information on our country’s history, geography, civics, economics and places of interest.
A strong emphasis is placed on attitudinal training, teamwork and cooperation and the need to provide value for money. The programme defines service quality excellence as it relates to international standards and serves to outline the necessary components that are essential to making The Bahamas the #l warm weather destination in the world.
Audio visuals, role plays, case studies, group discussions and printed teaching aids serve as reinforcement and clarification.
The Bahamahost Programme serves as a basic foundation to all other industry training and is used to promote service excellence in The Bahamas.
PHILOSOPHY AND CONCEPT
The philosophy which underlies the Bahamahost Programme is founded on the importance of personal fulfillment, national pride and of high professional standards in The Bahamas’ hospitality industry.
- The success of tourism in The Bahamas lies in the hands of Bahamians as professional hosts.
- The Bahamahost Programme adapts to meet the needs of this demanding industry.
- The Programme helps to build self-confidence and awareness as it encourages individuals to maximize opportunities available in the service industry.
New Providence staff members are:
Sherry Collie
Diana Brooks
Valerie Carpenter
Marilyn Johnson
Sheva Rolle
Craig Mortimer
Stephanie Wray
Esther Brown
Cleo White
Frances Cartwright
Grand Bahama
Anika Rahming-Williams
Abaco
Indira Edwards
This programme is some 27 years old and will be the subject of immediate review to test for effectiveness and relevance.
S M A R T TRAINING PROGRAMME
S ALES
M ARKETING
A ND
R OYAL
T REATMENT
The ‘S.M.A.R.T.’ Training Programme is instructional, practical and task oriented. The sessions are designed to:
1. Meet the individual business persons where they are – taking into
consideration the differences in educational background.
2. Address the needs of:
a. The individual business persons.
b. The supervisory management agencies responsible for these groups of
individuals.
c. The tourism industry as a whole.
3. Provide measurement based on a set of standards of performance and
guidelines for service that are designed for each group. These introduce
and reinforce basic customer service and business strategies.
It consists of three levels.
LEVEL I – ‘Small Things Matter’
LEVEL II – ‘Best Practices for Success in my Business’
LEVEL III – ‘Putting the ‘WOW’ IN Royal Treatment’.
Staff members are:
Gloria Brown
Carolyn Demeritte
Bernadette Saunders
Freeman Davis
Karen Beneby
Crystal Pierre
SMALL HOTELS UNIT
Jacqueline Ramsey
Clarise McQuay
H.O.T.E.L.ADOPT A SCHOOL/TOURISM AWARENESS
Ruthanne Rolle
Andrew Bonimy
BONEFISHING CERTIFICATION
(Benjamin Pratt)
The Bahamas Fly-Fishing Guide Certification Programme was launched in the year 2000 with the concept of developing a philosophy that would advance the sense of personal fulfillment, national pride and professionalism among all fly-fishing guides throughout the islands of The Bahamas.
Hitherto, customers and industry observers noted that in the emerging Fly Fishing Industry in The Bahamas, standards amongst guides had developed at different levels and pace. This meant that visiting anglers could have expected a variation in the quality of fishing to be experienced from destination to destination within our country and from guide to guide.
The National Bonefishing Council, an unofficial advisory board to the Ministry of Tourism in 1999 recommended that a certification programme be devised to address this critical challenge. In this regard, a collaborative effort began between the Vertical Markets Department, Ministry of Tourism; The Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute and members of the Bonefishing Guide Association to identify specific areas of concern so as to match them with theoretical practical training. The following areas of concern were identified for redress:
1. Customer Relations
2. Safety and Health Issues
3. Technical Skills Development
4. General Knowledge
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