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Draft Final Report, 19 th July, 2012
10. TOURISM TRAINING, EDUCATION AND
AWARENESS
10.1 LABOUR MARKET
In 2006, the total labour force was estimated at 3,006 persons,
of whom 2,593 were employed (indicating an unemployment
rate of 13.7 percent). More details will be available when
analysis of the results of the 2011 Census is completed.
Estimating the numbers employed in tourism is difficult, partly
because many of those engaged in this sector are involved in
multiple activities. Given that the number of rooms has
remained about the same, the current figure is unlikely to be
significantly different from that given for 2003 in NTS&P where
the “the numbers directly and indirectly dependent on tourism”
is estimated at about 250 persons. This figure includes selfemployed
owners/managers as well as others who, while not
directly employed in tourism establishments, provide services
to such establishments (including construction workers,
electricians, plumbers, gardeners and in areas such as pool
maintenance, air conditioning, etc.). At present, many of these
jobs and services are being filled by foreign workers recruited
from the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guyana and
elsewhere in the Caribbean (some of whom have acquired
Montserratian citizenship either through naturalization or
registration processes).
Nevertheless, there is still an acute shortage of skills as young
and more mobile Montserratians continue to leave for the
United Kingdom in pursuit of education and educational
opportunities. Using norms from other countries, it is probable
that not more than ten secondary school graduates (about
15%) each year will want to follow a tourism-related career in
Montserrat.
10.2 TRAINING DELIVERY
Current training efforts only address a relatively small
proportion of the overall need for skills development and
capacity building. Present approaches depend to a large
extent on in-house training programmes for hotel and
restaurant staff. A limited amount of formal training is provided
at the secondary school and the Montserrat Community
College (MCC), as follows:
(i) Secondary Level
There is a kitchen for vocational training at the secondary
school. This caters to all forms of cookery training, domestic
as well as industrial.
(ii) Tertiary Level
The MCC is mandated to provide vocational and technical
courses to support labour market needs. There is a general
provision in the college for tourism training. A wide range of
courses have been proposed but there appears to be little
relationship between the number and range of courses
proposed and the numbers of students potentially available.
The small size of the population makes many subjects
unviable. Curricula need to be finalized and teachers are in
short supply.
The UWI Open campus in Montserrat provides both distancelearning
programmes and local vocational courses, including
introductory courses in information technology and languages,
for which there is a growing demand.
MONTSERRAT TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2012 – 2022
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