Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

The Government has embarked on a massive training programme of more than 1,000 airport workers who are being trained by the Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall hotel's Leadership Centre in preparation for Cricket World Cup 2007.

The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Centre was recognised twice by the United States Department of Congress with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. To date the programme has trained thousands of executives, managers and line staff from a diverse range of industries such as automotive, finance, health care, retail and transportation.

The funding for the training of the airport workers will be sourced from the US$330 million fund designated by the Government under its World Cup Improvement Project. This project also includes complete renovation at both the Norman Manley International Airport and the Sangster International Airport.

The alliance between the Government and the hotel chain was formed after several meetings with chief operations officer of the Ritz-Carlton, Simon Cooper, and Ezzat Coutry, senior vice president of the Caribbean, Mexico & Florida, and former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, Government ministers and other stakeholders.

The six-phase training began in August and will be completed in November. On completion The Ritz-Carlton training experts will certify participants, in order to sustain the programme for long-term effectiveness.

Commenting on the achievement, Dennis Morrison, who wears the cap of chairman of both the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Airports Authority of Jamaica, spoke of the importance of a warm welcome at the first point tangible contact.