Two questions have given a clear indication as to how hospitality workers in Anguilla really feel about returning to work when the tourism industry is reopened – in both the villa and hotel phases.
Many of the employees, now home for several months, due to the coronavirus, and the closure of villas and hotels, crowded the Teachers’ Resource Centre on Tuesday, September 21. The event was the continuation of a series of training sessions on how they should interact with guests, protect themselves and other related matters.
One of the two questions, at the start of the training, was: “Has the coronavirus affected your financial situation”? Standing in two rows, facing each other, all the workers surged forward. The second question was: “Are you afraid about returning to work?” After asking that the question be re-phrased, as to whether they were concerned, a sizeable number of the workers also went forward.
The event was the wellbeing training session for tourism employees. It was a joint effort between the Ministry of Social Development and Education, particularly the mental health and psycho-social support team, and the Ministry of Tourism.
“We are focussing on getting hospitality workers prepared to go back to work in this Covid-19 context,” Dr. Ronya Foy-Connor, one of the facilitators, told The Anguillian newspaper. “Today’s session will be focusing on stigma and discrimination – and how to limit this among hospitality workers, the community and also guests coming from areas that we know have high numbers of Covid-19. We are also going to be talking about conflict and communication. That is how persons can work productively during Covid-19 – when a lot of them have certain fears and anxieties that are difficult to bypass, and when they are trying to work and provide excellent service to guests. In addition, we will be talking about stress and coping.”
Dr. Foy-Connor is a former travel agent, flight attendant and property manager in New York. She is now the Gender Affairs Development Coordinator in Anguilla. Her role in the event included hosting the excellent customer service portion of the training; co-facilitating the communication and conflict session dealing, among other matters, with how men and women respond differently in times of conflict.
Other facilitators were: Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Olufunmike Banks-Devonish, who conducted the session on stress and coping – including progressive breathing methods; how persons can implement mindfulness in their work – and be able to talk with a friend, employee or supervisor if they feel overwhelmed on the job; Mrs. Hyacinth Bradley, Community Services Planner, who mainly facilitated the communication and conflict session – and, being fluent in the Spanish Language, she conducted a special session for Spanish-speaking hospitality workers; Mr. Rodwell Grant, Senior Social Worker at the Department of Social Development and a Master Psycho-social Trainer with the Anguilla Red Cross; and Ms. Jennyville Smith, another Psycho-social trainer in the community who works at the Attorney General’s Chambers.
Dr. Foy-Connor said a total of ninety hospitality workers had registered for the training, while a number of others also turned up. “We are happy for the overwhelming response,” she added. “We hope to really help out all the hospitality workers who are ready to get back to work.”
