CHA launches the “Caribbean Tourism Career Wave” regional awareness campaign

The Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) has launched a regional awareness campaign on careers in tourism aimed at informing young Caribbean individuals of the opportunities offered by this growing industry.

The travel and tourism industry currently accounts for more than 15.5% of total employment in the Caribbean region; in some islands, the proportion is as high as 50%; and the predictable growth of this industry is expected to provide employment to a steadily increasing proportion of Caribbean people at an annual growth rate of 2.8%.

However, tourism is not always perceived by the Caribbean youth as an industry that presents real opportunities for professional career development.

“We are working to ensure that we attract the best of our Caribbean talent into this vibrant industry and that Tourism is seen as a career of choice not as a last resort,” said Susan Springer, Chairperson of CHA Product Development Committee (and Executive Vice President of The Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association).

The main objectives of the Career Wave campaign are to inform the Caribbean youth of the wide array of opportunities offered in their own country by the tourism industry as well as the potential for growing personnel demand, and to confer tourism industry jobs more social and professional prestige than they currently project. On the long-term, CHA is striving to increase the numbers of qualified Caribbean nationals in the tourism industry; ultimately maximizing the benefits tourism can have for the local communities.