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Last year the governments of Guyana and Barbados agreed on training Guyanese in hospitality, to effectively prepare Guyana for what is expected to be an imminent boom in the tourism sector.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond (DPI Photo)
Guyana’s Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond and Barbados’ Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, recently met with head of the training institute in Barbados to work out the modalities for training, some of which may be done in Barbados, as Guyana in the meanwhile moves ahead to have its own Hospitality Training Institute
In the Department of Public Information report, President Irfaan Ali noted that given Barbados’ established world-class hospitality programme Guyana can benefit from such exchange. The President said there is a need for technical capacity and human resources to manage and work in the many hotels that will be established locally.
Guyana and Barbados’ relationship goes back decades. The two countries were Founding Members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Founding Fathers, Forbes Burnham (Guyana) and Errol Barrow (Barbados), did not only enjoy cordial relations but led the struggles for independence in their respective countries and were both countries’ Prime Minister at the dawn of Independence.
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.”
The minister added that “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….”
