Job seekers armed with resumes in hand turned out in numbers for a Dart organized hospitality industry career fair Saturday morning to fill vacancies at three of its hotels.
Ritz-Carlton Manager and Cayman Tourism Association President Marc Langevin, speaking with the Cayman Compass at the event, said it was an important event, especially as the tourism industry begins to mobilise for more visitors.
“Our industry is restarting,” he said. “We have done many, many job fairs in the last year or so, but unfortunately we did not have a clear date, a start date or anything like that. Now we are in a position that we can say ‘yes we are going to interview you and now you can start on that date.'”
The fair, the latest to be hosted by the local conglomerate, started at 9:30am in the Cayman Islands Royal Ballroom at The Ritz-Carlton and was open to Caymanians, Permanent Residents and Residency and Employment Rights Certificate holders only.
There were 290 attendees, organizers said.
The recruitment event was organised on behalf of three hotels in Dart’s hospitality portfolio; The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa and Hampton by Hilton.
Deputy Premier, Finance and Labour Minister Chris Saunders was on hand at the event.
He welcomed the initiative to get Caymanians back to work, and implored jobseekers to make use of the opportunity.
Saunders said as more workers get back to full employment, the tourism stipend will gradually come to an end, and those who do not find employment by that time will be filtered to the Needs Assessment Unit.
Langevin said the aim was to give all attendees an opportunity to not only work, but train for positions within the industry.
He said there was no cap when it came to how many applicants would be hired, as already the Ritz is looking at 80% capacity for May with group conference bookings and equally significant capacity for the summer and winter.
“We will need the staff,” he said, adding that every job is open.
He advised jobseekers to look at the options available and pick one they feel passionate about.
“It makes no sense to force someone to do what they do not like to do, that they are not motivated to do their best,” Langevin said.
“Since the Cayman Islands Government announced the further relaxing of COVID-19 travel restrictions that came into effect on 18 February, the three hotels have seen a marked increase in reservations activities,” said Justin Howe, president of Real Estate Asset Management, in a statement on the event.
“With this momentum fueling the initial recovery of the tourism business, our Dart team and the hotel leaders are eager to meet local applicants and share information about available positions.”
Managers from the three hotels were also on hand to speak about opportunities in all areas of operations. These include food and beverage, culinary, housekeeping, front desk, concierge, pool and beach, accounting and more.
He added that Dart is pleased to support the hotels’ ongoing commitment to offering opportunities to Caymanians via the career event.
Applications can also be made online.
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