TOURISM HUMAN RESOURCES PROFESSIONALS TO DISCUSS CURRENT AND PRESSING ISSUES AT MAY CONFERENCE

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (March 9, 2009) –The current global economic crisis and its impact on the workforce will be among several key subjects to be discussed when Caribbean tourism human resources professionals meet for the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)’s 5^th Tourism Human Resources Conference in May. A session entitled, Learning from the Best: Success Strategies in Tough Economic Times has been included in the programme for the 27-29 May 2009 conference, which will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Curacao. In addition, delegates will participate in a workshop on Managing Stress in Difficult Times.“Like the rest of the workforce, tourism human resources professionals have to grapple with the impact of the global economic meltdown,” said Bonita Morgan, the CTO’s director of human resources, “therefore, it’s important that we explore strategies that work in difficult times and learn from each other’s experiences.”During the three day conference the regional human resource professionals will explore a range of issues relating to tourism human resources development, including creating hospitable experiences. Among the topics to the covered are: From Service to Excellence – The New Hospitable Experience Paradigm; Making Tourism Jobs Aspirational and Challenging; and Creating a Culture of Lifelong Learning at Work. Delegates will also learn Executive Coaching and Team Building Techniques to Create a World Class Workforce.  The 5^th Tourism Human Resources conference, which has as its theme, Best Practices for Creating a Motivated and Productive Tourism Workforce, is being organised in collaboration with the Curacao Tourism Board.  The audience is made up of tourism educators, trainers and human resource professionals, and every year the conference focuses on updating delegates on tourism related topics that are current and which provoke much discussion.

Registration and other information for the 5^th Tourism Human Resources conference can be found at  www.onecaribbean.org.