{"id":16284,"date":"2018-06-11T11:37:37","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T15:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=16284"},"modified":"2018-06-11T11:37:37","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T15:37:37","slug":"jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"JAMAICA government defends Sandals hiring practices"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Jamaica government has described as \u201cmisleading and erroneous\u201d the information contained in a video being circulated on social media accusing Sandals Resorts International (SRI) of bias in its entertainment hiring practices.<\/p>

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\u201cSandals Resorts International, a truly Jamaican resort company, pointed out quite forthrightly that 80 per cent of their entertainers are Jamaican, with the remaining 20 per cent used to execute circus shows, mainly as the local groups capable of doing so are fully booked,\u201d the Ministry of Tourism said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It said that the information in the video must be understood in the context of an increasingly competitive tourism sector which has seen record growth in arrivals and revenues, leaving many hotels and attractions packed and bursting at the seams.<\/p>

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Over the weekend SRI describing the accusations contained in the video as \u201cmisleading and downright spurious\u201d.<\/p>

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SRI, which has operations in several Caribbean countries, said that in 2015 a contingent of its senior representatives met with a group of local entertainers and recommended that they source Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) certificates \u201cto facilitate exploring movement into our non-Jamaican properties to provide much-sought-after Jamaican performers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSandals has heard nothing back and no one has approached the company to take up this offer,\u201d it said.<\/p>

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The CSME allows for the free movement of goods, services, skills and labour across the region.<\/p>\n

In its statement, the Ministry of Tourism noted that Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has consistently called for greater inclusion of Small and Medium Sized Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs)in the tourism value chain.<\/p>

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\u201cThe ministry, in this vein, established five Tourism Linkages Networks \u2014 one of which is sports and entertainment \u2014 to drive programmes and projects that create more economic opportunities for SMTEs.<\/p>

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\u201cFurther, to assist with investment for micro and small, Jamaican-owned businesses to build capacity to create and compete, a one billion dollar (One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) revolving loan was established through the Tourism Enhancement Fund and the Exim Bank. That programme is proving remarkably successful so far,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

It noted that beyond that, the tourism ministry remains committed to the development of all tourism workers in Jamaica.
\n\u201cTheir invaluable and dedicated services are indispensable to sustaining our award-winning and globally competitive tourism product. We delivered on our 2016 promise to establish the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI) in 2017. Just recently, over 150 Jamaicans graduated from the JCTI, which means they are qualified to work anywhere in the world. This is a significant turning point in professionalism in the industry and labour market reform,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Jamaica government has described as \u201cmisleading and erroneous\u201d the information contained in a video being circulated on social media accusing Sandals Resorts International (SRI) of bias in its entertainment hiring practices. \u201cSandals Resorts International, a truly Jamaican resort company, pointed out quite forthrightly that 80 per cent of their entertainers are Jamaican, with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nJAMAICA government defends Sandals hiring practices - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JAMAICA government defends Sandals hiring practices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Jamaica government has described as \u201cmisleading and erroneous\u201d the information contained in a video being circulated on social media accusing Sandals Resorts International (SRI) of bias in its entertainment hiring practices. \u201cSandals Resorts International, a truly Jamaican resort company, pointed out quite forthrightly that 80 per cent of their entertainers are Jamaican, with the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-11T15:37:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-andrew-holness.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"345\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"JAMAICA government defends Sandals hiring practices\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-11T15:37:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-11T15:37:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/\"},\"wordCount\":427,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:460\/h:345\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Anr-andrew-holness.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-government-defends-sandals-hiring-practices\/\",\"name\":\"JAMAICA government defends Sandals hiring practices - 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