The Tribune

For the past 40 years, BahamaHost has been the Ministry of Tourism's signature training programme for tourism and hospitality in our country.

Nearly 50,000 Bahamians have graduated through the programme, now holding the title of BahamaHost certified professionals who positively impact the visitor experience and exceed expectations.

The training has always focused on three core areas - product development, customer service and sustainability. The BahamaHost programme has now been redesigned to better address the needs of the dynamic, ever-changing tourism sector. It focuses attention on new core areas encompassed in five powerful modules.

Module I: "Proud to be Bahamian" attempts to lift the spirit of national consciousness in every Bahamian. It gives us a fresh look at relevant aspects of our history, civics and culture with great emphasis on our African heritage. We uncover the wonders of The Bahamas in our natural and cultural treasures, and discuss thoroughly ways to guard our heritage.

Module II: Tourism Today gives the learner an appreciation for our position in the regional and global context. We share detailed information of how we currently market ourselves to the world and the great opportunities we have in new, emerging niche and vertical markets.

Module III: The Bahamian service experience is perhaps best described as service training on steroids. It presents a holistic view of the service continuum, encompassing how we must use current service models to exceed the expectations of well-travelled visitors.

Module IV: The Global Impact takes the learner on an international and exploratory journey through diversity and cross-culture training. It climaxes with conversation Spanish, French and Mandarin, where participants get experience engaging visitors in their own languages.

Module V: Empowerment is the final of these modules, and in these workshops we take learners through goal setting, principals of entrepreneurship, leadership, health and wellness, and financial empowerment.

The mandate of BahamaHost has been, and continues to be, "covering the islands of The Bahamas with training solutions that positively impact every guest". Training is perhaps the most powerful tool that we have in remaining competitive as a destination. If our people are our greatest resource, we must make an investment in preparing them to create experiences that are magical.

• NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at iferguson@bahamas.com.