During a discussion on the topic “Building a Bridge: Youth as Catalysts for Change,” Prime Minister’s Youth awardee, Odane Brooks said: “From a government and policy standpoint we have to continuously reframe the discussion about the opportunities in tourism. There is a lot of opportunities for innovation development and so we have to get our people trained and therefore positioned to take up those opportunities.”
The youth panel discussion was one of the highlights of the Tourism Awareness Week (TAW) Youth Forum 2024 held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre earlier this week. The forum forms part of the slate of activities for TAW 2024, which is being observed from September 22-28, under the theme “Tourism and Peace: Out of Many, One Love.” This year’s theme is in keeping with UN Tourism’s (United Nations Tourism) global theme of “Tourism and Peace,” for World Tourism Day, which is being commemorated today, September 27.
Singling out the Tourism Enhancement Fund’s tourism innovation incubator initiative that offers mentorship and coaching to young entrepreneurs on how to take their businesses to the next level, Mr. Brooks said: “We have to see more of those avenues for young people to be able to tap into resources like those so we can take small businesses to the higher value chain, where you can earn more from the tourism sector.”
He noted that this was something currently being pursued by the Ministry of Tourism “to retain more of the earnings from tourism,” adding that, “if we are able to increase the skillset of our young people to be able to tap into some of the opportunities available, then we will be able to reduce the amount of tourism earnings that leave the country.”
Dean of Discipline at Anchovy High School, Levon Brissett said with tourism encompassing a wide range of disciplines, “there are jobs in tourism that we may not necessarily know are tourism jobs.” He stressed the need for partnerships with work experience coordinators to prepare students with vocational skills to take on jobs in tourism so that “our students would not then leave high school wondering, where am I going to go next.”
On the issue of innovation, when asked what he would like to see industry leaders do at this time, Junior Minister of Tourism, Taj Melbourne said the thrust must first start in schools with the integration of technology. He suggested a special AI (artificial intelligence) programme that would facilitate students learning more about the Jamaican culture so that they are better able to pass it on to visitors to enhance their understanding of what is authentically Jamaican.
President of the UWI Tourism Society, Katrina Chin also agreed that “investing in innovation is very important.” She felt that “Jamaicans are so creative but the resources they need to get the things done, that they want to get done, is the problem.”
The forum, which was moderated by public relations specialist, Amashika Lorne, saw participation from over 200 students from Tourism Action Clubs in some 23 secondary and tertiary institutions, as well as other stakeholders with an interest in tourism.
Tags: Jamaica’s tourism industry, Odane Brooks, UWI Tourism Society, Katrina Chin, young leaders, Tourism Awareness Week (TAW), Youth Forum 2024