B.T.B. & Carnival Cruise Line Launch Recruitment Exercise

Carnival Cruise Line carried out its first recruitment exercise today. The event was organized in partnership with the Belize Tourism Board and is geared towards exposing Belizeans to the employment opportunities that exist within the cruise line industry. Today, interested persons were able to register for an online interview with Carnival Cruise Line for available vacancies. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

More than two hundred Belizeans converged at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza hotel for an opportunity to join the team at Carnival Cruise Line. It is a part of the B.T.B.’s Cruise Recruitment and Embarkation Program which seeks to provide a platform to generate high quality employment opportunities for Belizeans within the cruise industry.

Abil Castaneda

Abil Castaneda, Director of Cruise, B.T.B.

“What we are trying to do here is that there are great opportunities for employment here in Belize, but also outside of Belize. And we are cognizant that in the recovery process for tourism, as you see in the international news, there are labour shortages in the aviation sector, there are labour shortages in the cruise industry. And so the cruise lines have been in discussions with many destinations in trying to see whether or not we can get some of our own locals and nationals working on these ships, building new career paths and taking advantage of professional development opportunities.”

Ruth Dolan

Ruth Dolan, Hotel Talent Attraction Manager, Carnival Cruise Line

“We would like to try and recruit some team members from Belize to come and work onboard and there’s lots of different career opportunities so we just want to share the message and explain to people how they can apply.”

Those in attendance received information on the requirements to work for a cruise line and the vacancies currently available. Some were brought up to speed on the process of securing a job and what that opportunity would look like. The recruitment is for persons with six months to two years of experience in the hotel industry, specifically in the area of housekeeping, food and beverage and entertainment. It’s a competitive process, but Belizeans are skilled enough to get into this market.

Shadine Franzua

Shadine Franzua, Participant

“I find this as a great opportunity to go onboard and potentially help my family since my mom is not working and this is a huge opportunity for me because I have three kids as well. So since my dad passed away this way, I need to help my family and I find this as a big opportunity.”

Jacinto Luna

Jacinto Luna, Participant

“My uncle did this for quite some years and I always said, “Uncle, I’d like to try what you did.” And now I have the opportunity and I will try to the best of my ability.”

Paul Lopez

“What did your uncle do? Which cruise line did he work for?”

Jacinto Luna

“Actually he was working for Carnival. I think he did like twenty-two years on it and I think it was still housekeeping that he was doing, so I will try. I’m like a tourist in my own country. I’d like to see different countries so that is one of the reasons why I would like to go on this to see different countries and see the work abilities of different places.”

Paul Lopez

“And make some much needed money while at it right?”

Jacinto Luna

“Much needed indeed yes.”

Carnival Cruise Lines is described as one of the main legacy partners in the cruise tourism industry in Belize.  Hotel Talent Attraction Manager Ruth Dolan says that the cruise line already has Belizeans working on its team, but with its upcoming expansions, there is room for more.

Ruth Dolan

“Obviously we have ships that call in Belize so our guests really like to talk to local people about getting recommendations for places to go and who better than people who live in the country. And also there is a great tourism industry here. It is a big destination so you have really awesome people who work in the industry so why not come and work onboard the ships.”

Abil Castaneda

“As soon as other vacancies become available, then we will do another event to do the same type of process. We are also working with other cruise lines like Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean to be able to do similar initiatives whether virtually or on site to be able to build the capacity of Belizeans to be able to take advantage of these opportunities.”

The event was timely as September twenty-seventh is also recognised as World Tourism Day. Duane Moody for News Five.