The certification process is the end product of a training workshop, sponsored by the Organization of American States (OAS), through its Special Multilateral Fund of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (FEMCIDI). The workshop was held in November 2010 and was a direct output of a regional project entitled “Capacity Building: Tourism Training and Certification.

The successful employees from various hotel properties in the Federation are as follows: Viola C. Sprouse, Lynette E. Warner, Sonia A. Henry, Kishma N. Freeman, Gale C. Halliday, Yvonne M. Herbert and Rosetta L. Merchant.

According to a release from the Organization of American States (OAS) office in St. Kitts, this most valuable qualification now enables the successful employees to not only work at any property within the Federation, but also at properties throughout the region, the hemisphere and the world at large.

Speaking from his office at Fortlands, OAS Representative Mr. Starret Greene said that the OAS, through FEMCIDI, “would continue to help the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis build its human resource capacity, within the hospitality and tourism industry, so that workers within the sector would become fully qualified, and then be positioned to offer the kind of service to visitors that meets international standards.”

Greene further went on to explain that the certification of workers in the tourism sector is critical to its modernization, growth and sustainability. “Investing in human development is the key to the Federation’s continued advancement”, the OAS Representative concluded.

A special ceremony has been scheduled for Thursday, 24 February, 2011, at the Frigate Bay Resort conference room, commencing at 3:00 pm.

OAS Representative Mr. Starret Greene, CEO of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Mrs. Rosecita Jeffers, Head of the Human Resource Department of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Ms. Novelette Morton, and key stakeholders from the Hospitality and Tourism sector will officiate at the presentation ceremony.