CARIBCERT

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association's regional certification system is increasingly gaining ground in the tourism industry, as the number of certified people continues to grow and local strategic alliances expand. A year after its official launch in June 2003, some 1,500 employees in Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago had been certified in their respective positions at line, supervisory, and management levels.

This number is likely to grow quickly in the months to come, as the Dominican Republic, St Maarten, Curaçao, and Jamaica have recently launched CARIBCERT at a national level, through strategic alliances between CHTA and local institutions. The implementation of the program is also in negotiation in two additional Caribbean destinations.

CARIBCERT covers a job and task analysis of 45 hotel positions in the Caribbean, and the system to certify people in any one of the positions. The system is based on standards that describe the skills and knowledge people in an occupation need to know, in order to provide superior service, while providing recognition for the skills and knowledge that they already possess. The system also identifies the skills and knowledge required to reach the next level, by training or further education. A person can be certified when he or she has demonstrated the skills described in the standards for the position. Having a CARIBCERT certification means a person has demonstrated the knowledge and professionalism that employers need and value.

CARIBCERT was developed by CHTA and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB). It lays down standards of performance and task analysis for 45 hotel positions in the Caribbean, and offers proficient workers the possibility to obtain a certification. The standards on which the system of certification is based were established by Caribbean hospitality industry professionals, and describe the skills and knowledge a person in an occupation needs to know and put into practice, in order to provide superior service. The system also identifies the skills and knowledge required to reach the next level, by training or further education.

For more information on CARIBCERT, visit www.caribcert.org or write to us at membership@caribbeanhotelassociation.com