JCTI’s Successful Partnership with AHLEI to be Documented in Case Study

KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 1, 2021: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has revealed that the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI), a vital partner of the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI), has agreed to publish a special training case study focusing on Jamaica. The decision was made because, since the partnership began four years ago, over 8,000 Jamaican tourism workers have received professional certification.

This was announced during a meeting in Madrid earlier today with Ed Kastli, Vice President of International Sales at AHLEI. Noting that 1 million jobs remain open in the United States market for tourism workers, Minister Bartlett underscored that this partnership remains valuable as Jamaica continues to focus on human capital development across the tourism sector.

“AHLEI published COVID-19 guidelines and protocols in March 2020 for the hotels and restaurants, which were shared with us at the Ministry of Tourism for conversion into training programmes to ensure the safety and security of our tourism workers and visitors,” he explained.

The JCTI is a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), a public body of the Ministry of Tourism. The JCTI is tasked with facilitating the development of Jamaica’s valuable human capital and supporting innovation within the tourism sector.

“Tourism is central to Jamaica’s national development. One key goal of the programmes and activities of the Ministry of Tourism and our public bodies is to create jobs that redound to an improved quality of life for the average Jamaican,” Minister Bartlett expressed.