TPDCo relaunches flagship Team Jamaica Training Programme with new facets
Published:Monday | November 20, 2023 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE TOURISM Product Development Company (TPDCo) relaunched its flagship Team Jamaica Training Programme last Thursday at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St James, as a major step forward to draw potential tourism workers and trainees to be ambassadors for Jamaica’s hospitality sector.
The relaunch of the programme, which was first formed by TPDCo in 1997, included a presentation of a theme song for the Team Jamaica initiative, as well as a distribution of awards for pioneer participants in the programme, and a showcase of finalists in the programme’s musical jingle competition.
Tourism Ministry Permanent Secretary Jennifer Griffith, delivering the launch’s keynote address on behalf of Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, noted that the event was a significant one for Jamaica’s tourism sector.
“This programme, which covers areas such as tourism awareness, marketing of Brand Jamaica, customer service excellence, self-development, cultural awareness and sensitivity, and environmental awareness, to name a few, has been paramount to the success of our industry. This is so because Team Jamaica increases the skill levels of our participants, engenders higher levels of motivation, and builds the self-esteem of the individual,” said Griffith, who was part of the programme’s planning in 1997.
“Team Jamaica has always been more than just a training programme. It embodies our Jamaican spirit, one of passion, unity, and excellence,” Griffith added. “I want to express my gratitude to the pioneers, those on whose shoulders we stand, and the torch-bearers who now must carry the programme to higher heights. That is TPDCo’s training team and the approved training partners, who are charged to extend the programme in the nooks and crannies of Jamaica.”
The Team Jamaica Training Programme has three levels of training, to include two newly added higher-level training modules aimed at nurturing the talents that are integral to Jamaica’s tourism sector.
The first level of training is the long-established Level One module, which focuses on teaching team members about topics such as customer service, cultural awareness, hospitality essentials, effective communication, and sustainable tourism practices. There is also the new Level Two training for supervisory positions, which teaches about leadership, motivation, conflict resolution, employee relations, customer service management, and tourism ethics; and Level Three training for management positions, which focuses on tourism and destination management, policy and planning, and tourism entrepreneurship.
A new website has also been created to further the mission of Team Jamaica, with its address at www.teamjamaicatraining.com, as part of a communications campaign across several media platforms to include Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
Wade Mars, TPDCo’s executive director, lauded Thursday’s launch as a landmark for everyone who has participated in the programme to date.
“Today is a day of celebration, not just for TPDCo, but for every participant in the programme, from people who took the course and conceptualised the course to everybody whose dedication, creativity and hard work have contributed to this programme being a reality, and have contributed to its evolution over the past 27 years. It is indeed a very resilient programme, and today is about making our best, because it is our best programme, but yet still we are going to make our best better,” said Mars.
“At TPDCo, our mandate has always been clear. We strive to enhance Jamaica’s tourism product, ensuring its sustainability, its worldwide competitiveness, and this rebranded Team Jamaica Training Programme stands as testament to our unwavering commitment to this cause,” Mars added. “By empowering our workforce, we are not just investing in individuals; we are investing in the future of Jamaica’s tourism.”