Equipping the new hospitality industry - Training resources in St Lucia

Anne P. Crick

Introduction

St Lucia like many other Caribbean islands is highly dependent on tourism for its economic survival. While the country has depended on tourism for decades, the industry has become much more important since the removal of protection for bananas. In the wake of declining agricultural exports, St Lucia has had to develop a tourist image that is competitive with that of its regional partners and that meets the needs of its domestic stakeholders. The growth of tourist arrivals, the building of new properties and the development of very successful events such as the annual jazz festival would seem to indicate that the planners have been successful. Attracting visitors to the shores, as important as it is however represents only a job half done. The challenge is to meet and in order to remain competitive, to exceed the expectations of visitors.

This paper examines the potential of St Lucia to do this in the accommodation sector. Accommodation is of course the heart of the stop-over visitor segment. While accommodation was at one time the backdrop for the visitor to a destination, accommodation has increasingly become the destination for the visitor. It may be argued for example, that visitors make a decision to come to a Sandals property that happens to be located in St Lucia more than they make a decision to come to St Lucia. The hotel as a destination is not limited to all-inclusives and I will make the case that these new hotels require specific types of behaviour from hotel employees. I will also highlight the changing demands of increasingly more knowledgeable visitors and the implications of those changes for training and development. This section of the paper will also examine the current strategy of the St Lucian tourist board and the implications for the accommodation sector. In the third part of the paper I will then critically examine the type of training and development available to potential and existing employees of the industry. The final section of the paper makes recommendations based on the findings.

The Changing face of Tourism

Tourism in St Lucia can be thought of as changing in at least three distinct ways - the types of hotels, the types of tourists and the type of destination planned for those tourists. These are described below.

Hotels - from bed and board to Destination

Travel historians and writers would argue that tourism dates back to the ancient pilgrims. The basic needs of these travellers have given us the term 'bed and board' which for centuries remained the major business of the accommodation sector. It may be argued of course that the type of bed and board became increasingly sophisticated over time. Today's hotels offer guests a variety of room choices, packages and dining choices that they may enjoy while pursuing some other interest. Whether it is for pleasure or for business purposes, this type of hotel was a backdrop to the visitor's real reason for coming to the destination. Today however we have the new phenomena of the destination hotel - a hotel that becomes the main reason for the visitors travel to that destination.

One such type of hotel is the all-inclusive themed hotel. These hotels which today accommodate more than half of all stop over arrivals to St Lucia, provide guests with their accommodation, entertainment, food and drink for one prepaid price. Paris and Zona-Paris argue that there is an all-inclusive philosophy that promises the visitor the following:

no surprises (unless surprise is part of the program) especially unexpected costs. It promises consistency and quality - good beverages and fare, safe and comfortable accommodations, caring staff, and plenty of accessible activities.¹

Visitors who come to the hotel therefore come because they have bought into the philosophy. The Sandals chain which has three hotels in St Lucia promises the visitor for example "no compromises and no surprises".

The idea of selecting the destination based on a philosophy is also true of other types of hotels. Le Sport for example attracts visitors because of its wellness philosophy. Visitors come to experience what the hotel calls a 'Body Holiday' and are promised that if they "Give us your body for a week, we'll give you back your mind". Guests may choose from a 'mind holiday', a 'relaxation holiday', a 'pampering holiday' and the relatively mundane scuba and golf holiday. Le Sport happens to be located in St Lucia but visitors come primarily to the hotel.

Finally, there is the emergence of the boutique hotel. This hotel type has caught on rapidly in St Lucia. Boutique hotels appeal to travellers by appealing to their own self-images. The boutique hotel is explicit about who it is providing its services for and the traveller is assured that by staying there he or she will be surrounded by like minded travellers. Such hotels promise exclusivity, privacy, comfort and personalized services to the visitor often at a very steep price. Guests who visit La Ladera or Anse Chastanet for example are assured that not only are their rooms different but that they will be provided with the ultimate in personalized service.

These destination hotels impact significantly on the requirements of employees. Like the hotel in which they work, the employees are no longer backdrops but are an essential part of the traveller's experience. Rather than being service providers, employees in many destination hotels are also experience creators. At La Ladera for example, they may help guests to 'ignite their passions' and at Le Sport they help them to reconnect with their body. Further, the distinction between front line employees and those who support their efforts is becoming blurred since every employee is required to play their role in creating a unique experience for every guest. For this reason destination hotels have changed their expectations of service employees. Ben Henry, CEO of the Sandals Corporate University for example, explains that the hotel now 'hires the smile and trains the skill'. Employees of Sandals are trained in the chain's philosophy - a process referred to as 'Sandalizing' almost to the same extent that they are trained to perform their core functions. This is not surprising because guests come to the chain not just for what it provides in terms of accommodation and so on, but for what it provides mentally - a stress-free vacation.

As the quote from Paris & Zona-Paris indicates however guests of all-inclusive properties expect consistency and quality in the services that are provided. These hotels must therefore ensure that employees have the core skills that are required to perform the jobs effectively. In fact in destination hotels there is reduced margin for error simply because guests are on the hotel property for more hours than they would be in a traditional European Plan hotel. There are therefore many more opportunities for the guests to see errors and indeed for the employees to make them than in EP hotels. Employees must also work hard at ensuring that products and services are delivered in a way that does not become monotonous or stale to the very demanding clientele that they are serving.

A final hotel type of new hotel is the green hotel. The Sandals chain has set itself the goal of being the first chain to be green globe certified and is adopting the practices that will allow it to qualify for this certification. Environmentally friendly practices require changes in the way that employees perform their jobs but also in the way that they think about the environment and their relationship to it. Employees of these hotels are expected to not just follow the instructions but to internalize them and become ambassadors for green practices throughout their community.

St Lucia still retains many hotels which do not fit into these new categories although as will be discussed in the next section, they have to adapt to meet the needs of the 'new tourists'. Small hotels are particularly important to examine because these hotels lack the infrastructure and the staffing levels that allow for strictly defined roles. Employees of small hotels must therefore be skilled at many different tasks and flexible enough to adopt the different roles that are required of them. Small hotels are often expected to deliver service that is more attentive and personalized and employees of these hotels must therefore have the ability to deliver this type of service.

The accommodation sector has therefore made considerable changes as it attempts to remain competitive. At the same time the type of visitor to the island has been changing. These changes are discussed in the next section of the paper.

The New Tourists

Traditional tourists to the region have been described as looking for the three S's - sand, sea and sun and some writers add the fourth S of sex. Such tourists came to the country largely because of climate, geography and as the latter S suggests, for the attributes of the people - real or imagined. Poon (1993)² argues however that today's tourist has changed significantly and that there is a new type of tourist who has a completely different set of needs. The 'new tourist's preferences are summarized in Table 1 below.

Table 1: The New Tourist. Adapted from Poon (1993)

As the table indicates, today's new tourists are potentially more demanding. They do not merely want to lie on a beach soaking up the sun but want a vacation that allows them to really experience the authentic nature of the country. They also have special interests that they wish to be catered to and they are more independent. This means therefore that as hotel guests they are more difficult to classify and categorize. Each guest represents a market of one with a specific set of needs. While this is a challenge, hotels that can meet the challenge may be rewarded by substantial loyalty. Peppers & Rogers (1996)³ describe the one to one challenge as involving building relationships with one customer at a time. In this situation dialogue and feedback will be critical to determine exactly what the customer wants. Hotel employees will therefore need to have the skills to understand what each tourist wants and to create a unique experience that meets those needs. Since these needs cannot be met ahead of time each employee therefore has to fulfil the requests and demands in real time.

While there are a significant number of 'new tourists' there are of course large numbers of 'old tourists' who do not fit this pattern. Even 'old tourists' are however affected by changes in information technology which make it easier for them to compare hotel products, services and prices. They can also use websites such as 'Tripadvisor.com' to find other opinions of the hotel that they are planning to stay at. This access to information therefore puts the potential visitor at an advantage and in many cases eliminates the middle man represented by the travel agent. Hotels are therefore required to convince a worldwide audience of the quality of their products and services. Information technology has another impact - it affects the way in which bookings are made. Using various websites potential travellers can wait until the last minute to make reservations for hotels as a way of reducing the amount that they pay. The advantage for the hotel is that there may be fewer empty beds but the disadvantage is that it may be more difficult to do long term scheduling. It also means that prices may be driven down and hotels therefore have to operate on a razor thin profit margin. Cost control measures such as minimizing staffing and requiring employees to multitask are therefore a response to these changes.

Finally, the new tourist may challenge some of the values of Caribbean destinations, including St Lucia. In a recently well publicized incident the Sandals chain had to announce that it was no longer going to use the word 'heterosexual' in its promotion to couples. The press releases made it clear that this was a decision brought about by pressure from powerful lobby groups that threatened the economic survival of the chain if it continued to discriminate against homosexual couples. While a general manager in the chain has indicated that he does not expect that the hotel will be hosting homosexual couples in the future, this does not appear to be realistic since the same forces that made it necessary to change the promotions would be expected to make it necessary to change the hotel's policy.

Homosexual couples are only one example of conflicting values, however. Many hotels in an increasingly competitive market are trying to differentiate their product in ways that are not always seen in a positive light by locals. Nude weddings at one hotel in Jamaica for example created quite a stir and the hotel's statement that nudity was well accepted in other countries did not diminish the protests. Employees who are rooted in the value systems of their host country must have the ability to work competently and non-judgementally in situations where a different set of values are being expressed.

The New Destination

St Lucia has responded to these challenges by developing a tourist product that is along the lines of Poon's 'new tourist'. According to the St Lucian tourist board "St Lucia is for travellers seeking pleasure and enrichment through the wonder of the undiscovered, the adventure of the unfamiliar, the freshness of the unspoiled, and the stimulation of the exotic". The board has also made an attempt to develop a tourist product that is inclusive of ordinary St Lucians and respectful of their heritage.

The island - a relatively new entrant to tourism - has also sought to differentiate itself on the basis of price as a means of sustaining the level of visitors. According to a 2001 market analysis this strategy has reduced the level of returns gained from the accommodation sector. The island has also tried to attract large hotel investors and therefore the number of large hotels, particularly all-inclusive hotels has increased. As shown in Table 2 below, the sector is currently dominated by all-inclusive hotels.

Table 2: Categorization of Hotels (Coathrup, 2002)⁴

As Table 3 indicates the all-inclusives enjoyed the highest levels of occupancy as well as the most stable occupancy. This suggests that there may be continued growth of this part of the accommodation sector. The table also indicates that there is more fluctuation in the conventional and small hotel sector and this may increase the need for staff to be flexible since there are likely to be more layoffs.

Table 3: Occupancy levels by hotel type (St Lucian Government Statistics)

In summary, there have been major changes in the type of tourist coming to the country. The changes in the strategic positioning of St Lucia as a tourist destination appear to be geared towards attracting the new tourists. Similarly, hotels have positioned themselves to meet those needs.

Employees working in these hotel properties will need to be highly skilled in their core functions but must also have the flexibility to perform other functions when this becomes necessary. These employees will also be much more visible than before and will therefore have to be capable of presenting the hotel in a favourable light through their behaviour, speech and the type of service that they give. They will be required to respond to the different needs of customers while at the same time making each customer feel special and valued. In an increasingly diverse world employees must appear not only tolerant but also accommodative of alternative life styles. Employees must also be very knowledgeable about the heritage as well as the physical environment in order to respond to the needs of eco and heritage tourists. Finally, employees will be required to demonstrate very high levels of physical and emotional stamina in order to deal with an increasingly sophisticated and demanding hotel guest. The stakes have never been higher since today's guest also has access to numerous sources of information about the hotel as well as its competitors. The question is whether or not the current training facilities are geared to produce the type of employee that is required for these new hotels. This question is tackled in the next section of the paper.

Training resources in St Lucia

Two major studies indicate the training needs and challenges for the region including St Lucia. Charles (1999)⁵ conducted a major survey for the CTO throughout the region. His survey data from St Lucia determined that only one third of the responding organizations had a full-time trainer on staff. While low, this was higher than the regional average.

Table 4: Source of Staff (Charles, 1999)

Table 5: Difficulty in filling job vacancies (Charles, 1999)

As Table 4 indicates, industry managers tend to draw managers mainly from the university level and secondary schools. They tend to draw the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled category mainly from primary and secondary schools. Local training institutions scored low but five years have passed since the study and it would be reasonable to expect that this category has increased. Table 5 indicates that managers experience the most difficulty in filling vacancies at the managerial and professional level while they do not find it particularly difficult to fill vacancies at the skilled and semi-skilled level.

Table 6: Specific Needs of the tourist industry (Charles, 1999)

As Table 6 indicates, customer relations and communication were the major needs identified at the professional, skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled levels. The latter was also seen as important at the managerial level.

In focus groups managers noted several training challenges including getting senior managers to train themselves and to appreciate the need for training for their staff, changing the attitude towards training at the national level, staff turnover after training, no time for training and the need for multi-skilled persons. The focus group members also indicated that they were concerned about the literacy level of the tourism workforce and that there was a poor perception of tourism. Perhaps as a result tourism had a difficulty in attracting the brightest and the best students.

In later work that draws on the same study, Charles (2002)⁶ notes that there is a need for a holistic 'systems' approach to human resource development. In addition to the technical aspects of HRD including appropriate recruitment, selection and performance management systems, it is important to use contemporary approaches that overcome the negative perception that employees may have the industry. Charles indicates that this will be critical if the industry is to attract the brightest and the best in the industry.

Charles' findings highlight a number of interesting points. First, it is clear that there is a need for more training facilities for the tourism industry. Secondly, there is a need for this training to start at the managerial level since this has a major impact on the human resource practices such as staffing and training. Thirdly, it is clear that much of the training is required in the traditionally softer skills such as communication and customer relations. Finally, the study indicates a worrisome problem - two thirds of the tourism training facilities do not have an in-house trainer but the majority of the entrants to the industry at the skilled, semi-skilled category come to the job with only a general education. The unfortunate conclusion is that they get little structured training on the job.

Another important study was conducted in the same year by the Caribbean Hotel Association along with the International Hotel and Restaurant Association. The study took the form of a think tank on hospitality human resources in the new millennium. The think tank concluded that the 'new worker' for the Caribbean would be more educated, more independent, more highly skilled and as a consequence, more marketable than present or past tourism workers. The think tank also determined that the new worker had different needs. These included a desire for a different kind of management and supervision and the opportunity where appropriate to act autonomously. Indeed such workers were described as not being willing to tolerate the traditional command and control style of management still prevalent in the industry (Olsen, 1999).⁷

The findings of this study indicate that societal and educational changes will impact on the type of employee who is entering the industry. The think tank provides good news as well as a challenge for accommodation managers. The good news is that these new employees will have the skills and personality attributes that are suitable for dealing with the new tourist and the new industry. The challenge is that these changes will require better management skills than currently exist.

Management Training

Training for managers is provided at the tertiary level - largely through the University of the West Indies, but increasingly through various universities and colleges that offer distance or on-line education. At the undergraduate level, UWI training is offered at the Bahamas campus in hospitality management, and to a lesser extent tourism, and is geared towards producing middle level managers for the industry. Most recently the UWI has divided the bachelors programme into two - the BSc in Hospitality Management and the BSc in Tourism Management. The division is intended to ensure that each component is strengthened. The Mona Campus also offers an MSc in Tourism and Hospitality Management - aimed at providing training for those managers already at the middle to senior level or those who aspire to be so. The strong research component also means that the programme serves as a conduit for those who wish to pursue doctoral studies in hospitality. The programme was initially EU-funded and attracted students from all over the Caribbean. Unfortunately once the two-year EU funding ended the programme has attracted mainly Jamaicans because it is too expensive financially and in terms of time for non-Jamaicans to leave their country for a year and a half to pursue the degree.

The Sir Arthur Lewis Community College offers training at the supervisory level for those specializing in food and beverage and in accommodations operations. For a time supervisors could also take a UWI hospitality diploma on-line. This EU-funded pilot programme has now ended and there are currently no plans to continue it.

There are therefore opportunities for those who wish to enter the industry at the management level to get the formal training that they desire. For St Lucians the concern may however remain cost and distance since in most cases pursuit of the qualification means leaving home for a minimum of two years. This may limit the number of students pursuing the degree and will practically eliminate the study while working option.

Availability is however only one issue. The other issue is whether the degree is achieving its stated aims. Despite the fact that the UWI has been offering the BSc programme for over twenty years, many of the graduates do not enter hospitality at all. Of those who do, many do not enter at the management level but are instead offered supervisory positions and are then taken through the training process of the particular hotel. This would appear to indicate a misfit between the goals of the industry and the goals of the UWI. Discussions with hotel managers indicate that they feel that hotel school graduates lack the hands on practical skills that they require in employees. This is despite the fact that all of the training programmes have an internship programme as well as practical sessions, particularly in the area of food and beverage management. The bigger problem appears to be however the expectations of industry and the expectations of the graduates. Graduates expect that on achieving their degree they will enter at the management level but hotels see the degree as a preliminary qualification that they will build upon. Within the smaller hotels graduates can expect to be placed in more senior positions but will have to be willing to perform multiple roles as well as to start at a lower salary.

The preference for hoteliers not to choose those straight out of school indicates that they prefer managers who have gained more experience at the level of supervising people as well as managing resources. Unfortunately the current internship programmes of hotels provide university students with exposure to the industry but they often have little chance to actually develop their management skills.

One recommendation is therefore that tertiary institutions re-examine their entry requirements and rather than taking students straight out of the high schools to the graduate level, they require at least two years working in the industry. Students who are part of the UWI's 2+2 programme which allows articulation between certain community colleges and the UWI, could also be required to work in the industry between the two degrees. Alternatively the internship period could be significantly lengthened. Already the UWI has moved it to the end of the degree but it is currently only 6 months. To meet the needs of the industry it would need to be at least double that length. At the same time the hotel industry would need to change the way that it currently manages internships. Except for those who are posted to small hotels, most interns indicate that they do not get to perform supervisory or managerial tasks. They would need to get this opportunity if they were to develop the skills that hotels want them to have when they enter their service.

At this point it is important to mention the role that is currently being played and can be played by distance education. These programmes appear to be ideal for students of the region, particularly those who are currently employed, because of the possibility to reduce the 'tyranny of distance' (Hall & Jayawardena, 2002).⁸ Newly designed distance programmes at the UWI geared towards the needs of supervisors and managers in the industry appear to be particularly ideal. On the other hand other programmes offered by distance to those who are not currently working in the industry are likely to provide graduates with the theoretical knowledge but to limit the opportunities for them to gain the practical exposure that the industry values. The result will continue to be the misfit between expectations of graduates and potential employers. Distance education does however have a vital role to play for OECS countries such as St Lucia. Its major role could be in equipping those who have the practical skills with the theoretical knowledge that they need to support those skills. If such a programme is developed in tandem with the industry, then it should allow those already employed to gain advanced degrees more inexpensively and conveniently than face to face programmes.

Training for the Line level

Managers currently appear to be drawing line staff from the primary and secondary level. Employees will therefore have little hospitality training on entry and will have to be provided with this on the job. While the larger hotels and the chain hotels (the two are often the same) do have the resources to train these employees on the job, the majority of hotels do not have these facilities in house. Managers will either have to depend on supervisors to conduct the training or seek training facilities outside.

There are a number of training institutions that offer training for line staff. They may of course attend school part-time at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College for example. The nature of work in the industry including the long hours and varying schedules makes this very difficult however. Hotels may also take advantage of the numerous programmes offered through the Caribbean Hospitality Association (CHA). These programmes have increased in scope and quantity and are ideal for those hotels that can afford them. Hinds (2002)⁹ also recommends that it might be useful for hoteliers to consider a barter arrangement where they provide rooms in exchange for training. This would allow trainers to come to the hotel property and conduct training at a mutually agreeable time. It would also reduce the direct cost to the hotelier.

Once again however the type of training offered may be more of an issue than the availability of training. As was discussed earlier in this paper, there is a need for employees to have a specific set of skills that will help them to deal with the new tourist and to function in the new destination being marketed by tourism planners. Programmes offered for line staff do however appear to be mainly focused on the technical or hard skills. Employees are therefore likely to develop only some of the skills that they need.

The other problem that might be hidden by the availability of the options is the opportunity and desire of line staff to study. As has already been mentioned the nature of the industry makes the work-study option a major challenge for many employees. From the hotel perspective there are difficulties in releasing employees, particularly in the small hotels. Hotel employees may also not see the need to study. According to Charles (1999), tourism work still has negative connotations. Employees in that industry may therefore not wish to continue to pursue further studies in it. While this may be changing because of the increased focus on tourism at the secondary school level, the changes may take some time to affect the perception of existing workers. Managers will therefore have to place significant emphasis on training and be willing to provide employees with the time and funding to study. They will also have to be willing to reward them when they successfully complete their studies. In this regard, the credentialing programme sponsored by CHA is welcome since it acknowledges on the job training. Hoteliers will however have to themselves embrace this effort if it is to be seen as meaningful by their employees.

Finally, there is the issue of where training for the industry should take place. Coathrup (2002) rather dismissively suggests that secondary school is not the place but rather specific trade schools. Unfortunately this would only strengthen the view that tourism is only for those who cannot do well in 'real subjects'. Tourism should therefore continue to be mainstreamed with other subjects. A broader view of tourism would have to be taught however. The current focus on tourism as being 'good' for the country is somewhat limited. As this paper has indicated employees will need to do a lot more than see tourism as a means to an end. They will have to embrace it wholeheartedly and be willing to bring the energy, initiative and knowledge to it that they would bring to any other industry. Admittedly there may not be room for this in an already crowded school curriculum and curriculum designers will have to be very creative in finding ways to include these areas.

Distance learning is an option for hoteliers who wish to provide employees with on the job training in a flexible way. The world wide web offers them the opportunity of accessing a classroom anywhere at any time once they have access to a computer. This would of course require hoteliers to invest in computers for their staff members and depending on the programme, provide some amount of travelling expense money if there is an on site component. Distance education does however appear to be a very viable option as it would meet the need for flexibility that is not provided even by visiting regional trainers who must be booked in advance.

All distance education is not equal however and hoteliers should be guided by their trade association in selecting those programmes that are most relevant to their needs. An even better alternative would be for hoteliers to pay regional trainers to design and write distance education programmes for them. As has been mentioned regional institutions already offer such programmes but these are limited not only in scope but also in their target market since they are designed mainly for supervisors. It is in the interests of hoteliers to collaborate on this venture that would provide them with the very necessary training that they need in the way that they need it.

Conclusions

St Lucia has significant potential as a tourist destination. To continue its rapid growth it must however have access to well trained and knowledgeable managers and line staff. While there are multiple agencies providing training for hospitality staff members there are some deficiencies that need to be addressed.

One of the major needs is for collaboration among the various training agents to avoid either overlaps or underlaps of training. Collaboration among small hotels will also be necessary to ensure that these hotels receive the necessary training. There is also the need for continued collaboration between the hotel industry and the training institutions. Hoteliers appear to prefer managers to gain experience on the job and to induct trainee managers. It will therefore be necessary to understand what are the limitations of the current training programmes and to remedy these. At the level of line staff and managers there will be a need to make the internship more relevant.

Both the public and private sector have to seriously undertake the job of enhancing the image of the industry and of working in the industry. While the industry is fairly well regarded, the support is strongest among those who work in tourist areas (Tourism Attitude Survey, 2001). It is important to increase the number regarding those who have a favourable image in order to ensure that the hospitality industry gets the best candidates to apply for jobs. Once they are on the job hoteliers will have to commit to providing them with the training that is most relevant to their needs and funding that training. Hoteliers will also have to recognize the training efforts.

Finally, it is critical that the industry train in a much broader way. While there is clearly a need for technical skills training, this is only a part of the type of training that is necessary. Emotional labour, emotional intelligence, aesthetic labour and knowledge work are all relatively new terms that hotel managers need to understand and embrace since these are the very skills that they are going to need in an increasingly competitive and diverse accommodation sector.

Endnotes

¹ Paris, J., Zona-Paris, 1999, 100 best all-inclusive resorts of the world, CT: Globe Pequot Press

² Poon, A. 1993. Tourism, technology and competitive strategies. CAB International.

³ Peppers, D. & Rogers, M. 1996. The one to one future: building relationships one customer at a time. NY: Currency Doubleday

⁴ Coathrup, D.C. 2002. Situational analysis & Overview: The tourism sector in St Lucia. A Discussion Paper. CIS Ltd.

⁵ Charles, K. 1999. Tourism Training for the new millennium: a study of tourism education and training needs in the Caribbean. Quality Consultants. Prepared for the CTO.

⁶ Charles, K. 2002. Future Human Resource Development Needs of the Caribbean Tourism Industry. In C. Jayawardena (Ed.) Tourism and Hospitality Education and Training in the Caribbean, UWI Press, 139-52.

⁷ Olsen, M.D. 1999. "Think tank on hospitality human resources in the new millennium", workshop conducted for the International Hotel and Restaurant Association and the Caribbean Hotel Association, Barbados, September - October.

⁸ Hall, K.O. & Jayawardena, C. 2002. Past, present and future role of the University of the West Indies in Tourism and Hospitality Education in the Caribbean, In C. Jayawardena (Ed.) Tourism and Hospitality Education and Training in the Caribbean, UWI Press, 3-35.

⁹ Hinds, M. 2002. Challenges in Training Employees of Small Hotels in the Caribbean. In C. Jayawardena (Ed.) Tourism and Hospitality Education and Training in the Caribbean, UWI Press, 279-83.

© Anne P. Crick, 2005.

HTML last revised 25th April, 2005.

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