Cruise ships are renowned for service quality in the hospitality sector. The different cruise brands set standards and staff are trained to ensure that those standards are delivered consistently. Our hospitality sector has a reputation for friendly service but often too for variable, inattentive or indifferent service. I therefore suggest that we could benefit from a formal link between the BCC’s Hospitality Institute and some of our cruise line partners. Paid internships for final year students with cruise ships could serve two purposes - opening up job opportunities for Barbadians wanting to work in the cruise industry and adding the final level of polish to students wanting a long term career in the hospitality sector at home. For the cruise lines such an arrangement could be seen as an aid to recruitment and also as an indication that they are making some contribution to one of their main destinations in the region.

Submitted by K. Penfold