Approximately 65 percent of the Virgin Islands’ population employed in service-related roles. Photo: hsi.com

Political commentator and outspoken social advocate, pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline, has proposed the development of a dedicated training facility for the hospitality and service sector, calling for joint government and private sector investment to address persistent labour challenges in the Virgin Islands. Photo: Facebook

Speaking on the Honestly Speaking broadcast on May 20, 2025, Skelton-Cline qualified this position by citing the myriad of issues surrounding local labour capacity, particularly in the service industry, and described a need for institutional training systems that prepare Virgin Islanders for employment in tourism and related fields.

Economic success

“A whole school, a whole component of our educational system, which the private sector could help and should help fund, is needed for training people in the hospitality industry—not as a one-off, but as a built-in institutional part of our country’s systems,” he said.

Further qualifying this position, he cited the model used in the Philippines, where the government has developed and supports a labour export framework, including training and support systems to prepare citizens for global service sector employment. 

“The country of the Philippines has developed a culture, (where) part of their GDP is training their population in a multiplicity of disciplines.” According to Skelton-Cline,  “They develop a culture with all the ancillary systems and structure and protection for their people so that when their people go out to other parts of the world to be gainfully employed, there's a direct monetary connect back to the country of their origin.”

As such, Skelton-Cline was adamant there needs to be changed attitudes domestically, towards service roles within the local culture, stating that hospitality work must be viewed as valuable and necessary to economic success.

Not an overnight fix

To this end, he suggested, “There must be a meaningful collaboration between government and the private sector… reshaping, recalibrating, reformatting a culture here that lends itself to service industries.”

Cognisant, such a transformation would require long-term planning and should be reflected in national policy, budgeting, and human resource strategies, he told the listening audience, “I know this is not an overnight fix.” He proffered nonetheless, that in order to change that culture, “It has to be reflected in your budget. It has to be reflected in the policies, in the managers and officers you are putting in place.”

With approximately 65 percent of the Virgin Islands’ population employed in service-related roles, he reminded, “People are prepared to pay for service—as long as that service is being delivered in an efficient, quality, kind, embracing way.”