Damario Francis graduates hospitality training

By Kimberley Cummins 

A student of The Ann Hill School for children with special needs has created history as the first student of that school to graduate from the Sandals Barbados Hospitality Training Programme (HTP).

Damario Francis was among the 61 graduates who were trained in various areas of the tourism industry and graduated during a ceremony held at the resort’s Royal Ballroom in Dover, Christ Church. Francis was assigned to the laundry department and, according to Sandals officials, he became a star trainee as he quickly learned the operation.

Principal of Ann Hill, Emelda Bell and Special Needs Educator, Faith Griffith, also attended the graduation and lauded Sandals for its proactive approach and willingness to accept Damario. “We are happy and he is happy. We thank Sandals for giving him, and I trust others, this opportunity,” said Bell. 

Another significant achievement was marked as eleven of the graduates were the first to be referred by the Ministry of Labour. Resort Manager, Patrick Drake, said he was blown away by the response to the programme and stressed the importance of partnerships within society that are geared towards assisting young people.

“Today was amazing. We have the largest number of graduates ever and we are aiming for even more next class. Having a government department on board to see the value of what we do only enhances the product, and we are ready to accept anyone interested once they meet the criteria,”
said Drake.

The partnership followed discussions among the Human Resources, Learning and Development and the Public Relations departments as well as the Ministry of Labour about the benefits of the HTP programme.

Programme Manager from the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector, Erika Watson maintained that her ministry valued the partnership with Sandals and invited other companies to seize such opportunities.

She said: “It was an amazing opportunity to achieve our objectives which was not only to give some young people work experience but also to get some high-quality technical learning experience for the hospitality sector… The feedback from the participants was that it was an incredible experience and we hope to have this partnership continue in the future. We also want to signal to other companies in the private sector that such a partnership would bring tremendous value.” 

The HTP initiative gives Caribbean nationals an opportunity to build the requisite skill sets needed for the hospitality industry through the provision of technical and soft skills training in various areas of hotel operations. The programme runs for ten weeks, during which trainees receive in-depth, on-the-job training and mentorship from seasoned hoteliers in specific departments. This allows them Those successfully completing the programme are first in line to secure open positions at Sandals Barbados. Where there are no open positions, the applicants are added to the company’s database for potential employment at another Sandals resort across the region. 

(KC)