Wealth of career opportunities available in hospitality industry – THAG

With Guyana’s tourism sector rapidly expanding, there is an urgent demand for people to pursue the many career opportunities available in the hospitality industry.

Executive Director of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Oslyn Kirton said the association is looking to create awareness of the openings that exist.

She noted that many Guyanese tend to confuse the concepts of service and servitude, which is a misconception that needs to be rectified.

“People think of tourism or service as ‘I didn’t do too well in school; this is the only thing I could get’. No, that’s not the only thing you could get. There are parts of this world where people come out of high school with a 3.6 GPA and go to a catering school. They go to learn to be a server, they do that, cause it’s a career, it’s not just a job,” she explained.

Kirton added that more people need to be trained since the association’s members have been losing staff to other industries, although there is a need for more persons to take up employment in the hospitality sector.

Guyana will soon witness several branded hotels opening up for business and they will be in dire need of sufficient staff to meet the anticipated demands.

“We have to educate our citizens that there is a future in service. You can start as a waiter… and end as a maître d’.  A maître d’ is what they see as the person in charge of the hotel…  and there is a lot of money in that. Even as a waitress. If you have the right attitude and you give proper service you make a lot of money,” Kirton explained.

Further, she disclosed that there is scope and room for promotion all across the service industry.

“We just do not need servers [only], we need front of office staff, you need back of office staff, we need chefs, we need prep cooks and engineers,” she noted.

Meanwhile, the association is currently looking to provide a variety of training opportunities for persons in the industry. It also plans to support the Carnegie School of Home Economics to upskill its staff, as this is one of the institutions that spearheads training for the industry.