Basseterre, St. Kitts (February 16, 2007): Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism Hon. Richard Skerritt says the St. Kitts-Nevis Standards and Training Programme launched here this week is geared towards the development of the St. Kitts and Nevis tourism product beyond the Cricket World Cup.
He said that while the training is timely in relation to its proximity to Cricket World Cup, the event serves as the first real eye-opener for the ongoing realities of global competitiveness. ~~adz:Right~~
The programme intends to intensify service excellence training, hone the skills of those frontline persons who impact the visitor experience as well as portray the image of St. Kitts and Nevis as an ideal tourism destination.
The first phase being undertaken by the St. Kitts Tourism Authority and the Freeman Group, will target public sector employees and taxi drivers.
The Freeman Group - a respected Tourism Development Firm has worked with some of the top destinations and hotels throughout the region to give them an edge by providing training that enhances their capacity to compete globally.
Minister Skerritt said he was specifically pleased with the Freeman group and its programme entitled 'Promises' because the group conducts in-depth research of a destination before proceeding with training.
Kedrick Malone, main facilitator and former Chief Executive Officer of the BVI Tourism Authority, explained that his firm dispatches mystery shoppers who, unknown to frontline staff in the tourism industry, shop around to determine the level of service they receive while on island.
The mystery shoppers do not reveal their identity but visit a number of private and public sector institutions and businesses after which they submit a report on the level of service they received.
Following this, the Freeman Group presents the findings to a group of stakeholder trainees in the destination who reveal issues that impact the service they provide. This information is further incorporated into their training.~~adz:Right~~
Minister Skeritt said Mr. Malone who is also Kittitian by birth, is well geared along with the Freeman Group's Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Patrick O'Bryan of Texas, to lend his assistance in heightening the capacity of the human resource locally.
The minister challenged private sector institutions, which he applauded for infrastructural and physical tourism investment, to now focus on the human resource training aspect of tourism.
He said to be globally competitive a number of ingredients must be in place including the inherent skills of the people; the innovation of entrepreneurs, the effectiveness and stability of public institutions and the vision and commitment of the government.
He added that his government has shown its commitment by investing heavily in the physical and human resource aspects of tourism. Government would cover training for those small enterprises whose budget does not allow them to meet training needs. He emphasized that he would expect the private sector to take ownership of human resource investment.
Minister Skerritt referred to successful tourism as an alliance of stakeholders which ensures that the customers they share, experience consistency in all interactions during their visit.
