ASPIRING PROFESSIONALS in the tourism and hospitality industry now have a better understanding of the real world of work through valuable internships at the Ocean Two Resort & Residences.
Drawn from two programmes managed by the University of the West Indies (UWI), seven students recently concluded attachments at the luxury resort and were the latest to benefit from hands-on training at the Christ Church property.
Barbadians Jamar Hollingsworth, Sierra Moore, Shanice Jordan and Keshae Bovell – all students in the UWI’s tourism management programme in The Bahamas – and Panamanians Yesika Yese, Naomi Anderson-Reid and Alvarro Surgeon – attached to UWI’s English As A Second Language programme – spent several weeks gaining exposure in various areas of hotel and restaurant operations.
Those areas to which they were exposed included administration, front office management, food and beverage operations, maintenance, sales and marketing and house-keeping operations.
The students all described the internship programme as a great learning curve and praised staff of the Ocean Two Resort for accommodating them and treating them like fellow staffers.
“I enjoyed the experience at Ocean Two . . . the staff were always willing to assist and help us to put our training into practice,” said 23-year-old Shanice Jordan.
Keshae Bovell, a 21-year-old in training and who was among those spending 12 weeks at Ocean Two, said the exposure was truly an eye-opener and caused him to realise that the classroom and the work environment were different places.
Spokesman for the Panamanians, Alvarro Surgeon said they were all enrolled in a hospitality institute and came to Barbados as part of a three-month project to improve their English and hospitality skills.
Operations manager of Ocean Two, Paul Collymore disclosed that students from UWI, the Barbados Community College and the Vocational Training Board were accommodated under the resort’s ongoing internship programme and they were proud to provide them with enriching experiences which could lead to career paths.
Said Collymore: “We support and encourage these partnerships and we are always willing to do our part to ensure that students get the practical industry knowledge and exposure to assist with their career development.” (PR)
