GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Ingrid Arrindell, commends the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in taking the initiative of having the leading tertiary training institutions from across the OECS which are part of the Network of Excellence of Tourism and Hospitality Training and Education, (NETHTE).
ECIT will be the first ever regional virtual learning institution for Tourism and Hospitality.
The formation process of ECIT took 10-years under the coordination of a Task Force comprising of the National Tourism Organizations in the OECS; Tertiary level training institutions such as Community Colleges; the Caribbean Tourism Organization; and the OECS Commission.
The Task Force was assigned by the OECS Council of Tourism Ministers under the objective to develop an integrated system for tourism hospitality training and education that would be assisted by regional institutes of Hospitality Training in each OECS Member State.
“The Caribbean is one of the world’s most tourism dependent regions. The establishment of the ECIT which is an entity that utilizes the resources of existing tertiary institutions throughout the OECS is a viable way to go in approaching tourism and hospitality training for our people throughout the Region.
No single country can be self-sufficient in meeting the diverse manpower training demands of the tourism sector to achieve their maximum potential and become globally competitive.
“I commend the OECS with respect to this approach, and we should also explore the possibility of where St Maarten could play a role with respect to the University of St. Maarten. We all need to train and educate our people in order to be able to provide the highest levels of service to our visitors.
“Every island nation has a stake and opportunities and possibilities should be explored in using existing resources rather than re-inventing the wheel and using limited valuable resources in such a manner,” said Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Ingrid Arrindell.
\r\n\t\t\t\t\tMinister of Tourism Arrindell congratulates OECS on formal establishment of Eastern Caribbean Institute of Tourism
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