A senior regional tourism official has made a case for more tourism studies in schools.
Speaking in the context of the Caribbean Examinations Council’s introduction of tourism at the CAPE level, Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) director of resource mobilisation and development, Bonita Morgan, said there were several compelling reasons why this was a good thing.
Morgan said having tourism on the school curriculum was important because she considered it “one of the building blocks in the development of the human resources environment to support tourism”.
Pointing to its importance in building career awareness in tourism, she said, “Tourism is the lifeblood of the Caribbean at this time in our existence and will continue to be an important economic sector for our region for some time to come. We have been saying for the longest while that one in every four persons in the region either works directly or indirectly with the tourism sector.
“It is a reality of our economies and we should at minimum prepare our young people to understand something about the scope and workings of the sector so that they can make intelligent choices when they begin their own career planning and forging their own career path. So building career awareness is important for the tourism sector.”
Increasing the focus on tourism in schools was also crucial, she added, for “influencing public attitudes and awareness to tourism and tourists”, and as part of national commitment to tourism.
“So, the teaching of tourism in our schools at an early age as possible is positive for tourism, positive for our countries and positive for our region in promoting career awareness in tourism, influencing public attitudes and awareness towards tourism and tourists and continuing to build national commitment for the sector.” (SC)