KINGSTON, Jamaica—More than 25,000 Jamaican tourism workers have been certified under internationally benchmarked programmes through the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation.

The numbers were shared by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett during his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on June 23. He said annual certification output has grown from 40 graduates in 2017 to more than 3,000 in 2025/26.

“In 2025/26 alone, 3,273 certificates were issued from 3,589 registrations, producing an overall pass rate of 91 per cent. These certifications covered guest service, food safety, hospitality supervision, hospitality management, hotel operations, leadership, revenue management, culinary development and other disciplines essential to service excellence and upward mobility,” said Bartlett.