Barbados has been lauded for its approach to developing the skills and broadening the opportunities for workers in the tourism sector.
It has come from the Caribbean Employment Services (CES), a recruitment advertising company, which is headquartered in Barbados.
The CES said Barbados’ approach to “sustainable tourism” was admirable as it ensures employees in the tourism industry benefit significantly.
“Caribbean Employment Services Inc. supports sustainable development that is mindful of the dire impacts of climate change and the susceptibility of tourism to unpredictable crises, like COVID. For Barbados specifically, where we are headquartered and where officials have suggested labour shortages might cripple the local workforce decades into the future, sustainable tourism also means ensuring enough Barbadians are trained to enter the industry and attain positions that allow them to make a decent living.
“We do believe Barbados is leading the way in its approach to sustainable tourism and will continue to support efforts of the government and other agencies in this regard,” a spokesperson for the organisation told Barbados TODAY.
The spokesperson said this was critical as the island’s Chief Labour Officer Claudette Hope-Greenidge pointed out in October, 2021, that higher-skilled workers were desperately needed in the tourism sector.
The CES noted that while the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on the tourism industry had been widely documented and reported on, and although economic diversification has become a major goal for many Caribbean nations, the tourism sector was still expected to continue being a significant driver for GDP in the foreseeable future.
The CES contended that while tourism was a multifaceted industry with the potential to elevate even the most marginalized worker to high-earning positions, sustainable development was critical if it was to achieve its full potential in the aftermath of COVID-19.
It maintained that the industry needed to be “developed in a sustainable way or else face labour shortages and exacerbate inequalities among vulnerable populations.”
The CES said its view was supported by the International Labour Organization (ILO) which recently cautioned that the sector’s potential in the region could fall flat without sustainable development and regulation.
“Globally, although differences between regions exist, the sector continues to face decent work deficits, such as the prevalence of informality, variable and long working hours, low wages, limited access to social protection, gender-based discrimination, poor occupational safety and health practices and weak regulation, enforcement and organisation of labour,” the ILO noted. (RB)
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