There’s a lot more to the hospitality industry than washing dishes and changing linens. That’s the message from University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) President Roy Bodden, as a new partnership between the college and the industry aims to give students the on-the-job training they need to have an edge.
“Hospitality is a huge industry and it’s not just front desk and concierge or housekeepers,” said Marc Langevin of the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman. The resort will soon be doubling as a classroom for students in UCCI’s new school of hospitality.
“In a hotel like the Ritz-Carlton we have about 700 positions. That goes from engineering to it to accounting, it’s a small village,” said Mr. Langevin.
It takes people to keep that village running smoothly and the school of hospitality aims to give its students practical insight into how the industry works.
“I think this is going to open up the hospitality industry and an understanding of that industry in the Cayman Islands in a way that has not been done before,” said UCCI President Roy Bodden. “These students will have access to the real thing [like] the Mariott, the Westin, the Ritz-Carlton.”
“One of the hardest things is to get in. Once you get in, the sky’s the limit,” said John Douglas, who started at the Ritz-Carlton in 2008. Since then he has worked his way up within the company to a supervisory position.
“If a programme like that had existed then, I would probably be higher than I am today,” said Mr. Douglas.
“We are extending an invitation to the best and brightest,” said Mr. Bodden. “The hospitality industry needs accountants, it needs finance people. They need good managers just like the banks and the law firms.”
The school of hospitality studies will begin classes in September.
