Following several episodes of discussion and deliberation, the OECS Tourism and Hospitality Training Task Force met in St. Kitts on December 1st to finalise the Implementation Plan before starting to establish the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Tourism (ECIT).
Deemed to be the flagship of the overall 10th EDF Economic Integration and Trade of the OECS project, the ECIT is expected to create a meaningful, significant, positive impact on the competitiveness of the region’s tourism sector.
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the constitution of the OECS Tourism and Hospitality Training Task Force. The establishment of this Task Force was mandated by the OECS Council of Tourism Ministers at their 9th meeting convened in Saint Lucia in 2010 when the Ministers in principle, endorsed a proposal to develop an integrated system for tourism hospitality training and education, characterised by centres of specialisation operating respectively in Hospitality Training Institutes in each OECS Member State.
The composition of the Task Force comprises representatives from:
• The National Tourism Organisations in the OECS
• Tertiary level training institutions i.e. Community Colleges
• The Caribbean Tourism Organisation
• The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association
• The OECS Commission
The primary role of this Task Force as articulated in the Terms of Reference is to provide policy guidance and direction, with a view to improving the tertiary education and vocational training system for tourism and hospitality in the region. The Task Force is therefore expected to play a lead role in establishing the ECIT.
The establishment of the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Tourism (ECIT) as a reputable regional blended-learning institute that offers specialised accredited programmes in tourism and hospitality would involve the following main activities:
• The development, improvement and harmonization of curricula
• Upgrading of facilities at the colleges which will deliver the programmes of the ECIT
• Establishment of a Tourism and Hospitality Academic Review Panel
• Procurement and installation of Network ICT infrastructure
• Procurement and Operationalisation of a Learning Management System
• Training and Capacity Building for Lecturers
• Establishment of a Research Centre
• Establishment of a Scholarship Foundation
The meeting at the Marriott Hotel involves representatives from all OECS Member States.
Our Supreme Leader is indeed a visionary! He knew that tourism would be the backbone of regional economies and positioned Dominica to reap the benefits of this multi-billion dollar industry. A brilliant man and a blessed leader. I shiver when I try to imagine a Dominica without the leadership of our dear and beloved Prime Minister, the right and honorable Dr. Roosevelt M. Skerrit. It is indeed true that great leaders are not made, they are born!
You just couldn’t stay away could you? Seems like you’re back after being publicly shamed by DNO themselves. Remember when the ADMIN told you that “If they were biased, they would not have published the majority of the stuff that you post”? Lol!!!!!! That was a shot for the ages, much to the satisfaction of the majority of DNO readers. But yet here you are. Like the shameless dog you are, after being cast out, you’ve licked your wombs which had been covered in flies, made a 180 degree U turn, and came back to a master (the DNO website) where nobody wants you, wagging you tail all along looking for sympathy. You cannot say that the ADMIN didn’t hurt your feelings because it made you stay away from your favorite hobby for a few hours. That hobby being to log on to DNO 24/7 and address Skeritt as God; the supreme creator of unemployment, and magisterial distributer of free plywood, Wi-Fi, tablets, cooking gas, and the best health care firm on the island, RED CLINIC.
Carcon, lofty idea but you can not even agree on a Commonwealth candidate for the OECS. More jobs, shoveling paper, more meetings but in the end everybody looks after his own. We have Federation Drive but no federation. Are you giving up your own tourism authority for just 70,000 people? be real. The answer is no!