Caribbean association to help find travel jobs for 2,500 who lost work due to Dorian

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association has stepped in to find temporary work for Bahamians after some 2,500 hospitality jobs in The Abacos and Grand Bahama were wiped out by Hurricane Dorian.

Working with public and private sector tourism partners across the Caribbean, the Bahamas and South Florida, the CHTA and the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association has launched ‘Tourism Jobs for Bahamians’.

"The strong Bahamas tourism sector has created a wealth of skilled and dedicated tourism professionals, who would be an asset to any hotel or tourism business," said CHTA President Patricia Affonso-Dass, who runs Ocean Hotels in Barbados.

"Even short-term seasonal positions would allow these Bahamian professionals not only to enhance other destinations but also to expand their own skills and experience," she said.

To identify such temporary positions, CHTA is deploying its Caribbean Tourism Job Bank, set up in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, to connect Bahamian job seekers with opportunities in the 80% of the Bahamas that wasn’t affected by Dorian.

The Job Bank will also seek openings in the Caribbean region, the US and Canada.

CHTA is urging employers to use the Job Bank to post openings for the full range of hotel and tourism functions – from management, supervisory and line level positions to specialty areas like chefs, bartenders, engineers, groundskeepers, marina support, sales, marketing and accounts.

CHTA said several hotels have already tapped this large pool of experienced hospitality employees, while others have committed to hiring displaced workers.

Among the early responders to the CHTA appeal are unaffected Bahamas hotels such as Sandals Resorts, which has three Bahamian properties, the newly opened Baha Mar resort complex, Atlantis Paradise Island along with hotels in the Out Islands of Eleuthera, Exuma, Andros, Bimini, Cat Island, and Long Island.

CHTA is also reaching out for prospective employers through the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association.

Tourism employers in the US, Canada and the wider Caribbean region interested in offering short-term and temporary employment for these industry professionals can visit the jobank where they can post jobs and search for available candidates.

For the duration of this project, the cost of posting jobs for non-CHTA member hotels will be waived.

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