The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) has held its 21st annual Educators’ Internship initiative to help teachers better prepare their students for jobs and opportunities in this country’s largest industry recently.

The Association, in a statement, said teachers spend three days “walking in the footsteps” of tourism professionals - working in businesses directly related or reliant on our tourism industry - to help them pass on what they learnt and saw to their pupils.

The initiative, hosted by the BHTA in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology (BMOEST), gives teachers first-hand experience and insight into how the tourism industry functions on a day-to-day basis. Educators spend time interacting with guests, customers, owners and operators of businesses, gaining an understanding of what it takes to run the business, the required work ethics and skill-set, and other attributes necessary to thrive in tourism.  

Teachers are then able to take this experience back to the classroom, and convey what they learned to their students. The theme of this year’s Internship was ‘Pride in our Past’.

Pamela Burnside, the BHTA’s vice-president of allied members, proprietor of Doongalik Studios Art Gallery, and well-known Bahamian cultural advocate, launched the program with a presentation challenging teachers to remember and cherish unique elements of Bahamian history, culture and customs that the younger generations need to preserve.

 The closing ceremony, held at John Watling’s Distillery, included public and private sector partners - senior BHTA executives, representatives from the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology, and long-standing partners from the Ministry of Tourism, the University of The Bahamas’s College of Tourism, Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Leisure Management (THeCALM) and the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) teachers. Also present were educators and counsellors from more than 20 Bahamian schools and the properties who hosted them.

Jackson Weech, BHTA president, said teachers are preparing the next generation of Bahamians to take over the tourism industry as owners, operators and entrepreneurs. 

Ricardo P. Deveaux, the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology’s deputy permanent secretary, and president and chief executive of The Bahamas Primary School Student of The Year Foundation, reminded teachers of the role they play in shaping the lives of their students.

 Host properties, some of whom have been participating annually for more than two decades, included Ardastra Gardens, Atlantis, Baha Mar, British Colonial Hotel, Goldwynn Resort and Residences, Graphite Engineering, Graycliff Hotel & Cigar Company, Leisure Travel & Tours Company, Lyford Cay Club, Majestic Tours, Margaritaville Beach Resort, Nassau Cruise Port and Warwick Paradise Island.