ANTIGUA & BARBUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY

Guest Room Attendants Training participants with "officials" including Jean Ricot Dormeus,OAS (Local) Representative and Louise John, Facilitator

March 21 – 25 (2011) will bring together nineteen (19) front desk representatives from a wide cross-section of hotels on the island for a Hospitality Skills Certification (HSC) Training Programme.  This 5-day programme will sharpen the employees’ knowledge and skills required for improved quality of their service as Front Desk Representatives – Receptionists, Guest Service Agents, Customer Service Agents, Hall Porters and Property Hosts.

On the 5th day of the programme (Friday, March 25th), the trainees will sit the HSC written exam.  This will be followed by a 3-week practical on-the-job training exercise and assessment.  A score of 75% or more on the test and assessment process will confirm the employee’s competence and success necessary to earn internationally recognised certification as a Front Desk Representative.

This programme comes on the heels of a similar programme – Hospitality Skills Certification Training Programme targeting Guest Room Attendants.  The seventeen employees who participated in the training and who qualified for the designation,  have now completed their  3-week on-the-job practical exercise. This followed their classroom training exercise and written exam during the month of February (2011). We now await the results from the American Hotels & Lodging Educational Institute (AH&LEI).

It is anticipated that through these programmes, the twin-island destination of Antigua & Barbuda will benefit from an increase in the numbers of skilled employees to raise the quality of the tourism product through excellent service delivery, and thus on-going enhancement of the product.

These training programmes form part of the activities under the Capacity Building: Tourism Training and Certification Project (2008-2011).  The project is sponsored by the Organization of American States with counterpart financing from the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture.  Now in its third and final year, the project has benefitted in excess of two hundred (200) hotel owners and managers and other hospitality and tourism employees in the areas of hotel management, food and beverage,  front office,  housekeeping and training and development.

As an OAS multinational project, other beneficiaries in addition to Antigua and Barbuda,  are the countries of St. Kitts and Nevis and Belize.

Group putting theory to practise

Group work in action - GRA training