More than 2,600 travel and tourism professionals and managers will have the opportunity to continue developing their guest service skills as part of a training program presented by the Caribbean Hotel Association, American Express and Johnson & Wales University.

For the past 20 years, the Caribbean Hotel Association and sponsor American Express have hosted several hospitality training programs. Last year they introduced Total Service: The Caribbean is Quality training program. This year`s Total Service training will feature Quantify the Quality of Service (Q2), an award-winning hospitality training program developed by Johnson & Wales University.

Q2 has been administered to thousands of hotel, restaurant, and cruise industry professionals since the program was first developed in 1989 and will now be delivered between June and October in Aruba, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, Jamaica, and Bermuda.

Training is not something you do once and you`re done; it`s an ongoing commitment, said Ivette Martinez, director of membership benefits of CHA. Q2 brings veteran hospitality employees a new perspective that enriches their on-the-job experience and previous training. Meanwhile, newcomers will have their first encounter with service training through a program that has been tested and proven effective.

Hospitality professors from Johnson & Wales University have worked with the Office of Professional Training to deliver and refine this award-winning training since the original curriculum was developed.

Q2 was used to train service staff for the New England Governors Initiative, which was formed to attract tourism to the New England states. The training was given to taxi drivers, hotel front desk personnel and other tourism employees. After the training was delivered, the program received the New England Governor`s Conference award for excellence.

Johnson & Wales University`s North Miami Campus has trained more than 100 hospitality and tourism businesses and organizations using top of the line training techniques and teachings. The university`s Q2 program will cover topics such as building a service culture, organizational factors that impact guest service, handling complaints, communication skills and developing measurable standards of performance.

The key to a successful business is service, particularly in the hospitality industry, said Dianelys Rodriguez, vice president of destination business development, American Express Company. We are pleased to work with the Caribbean Hotel Association and Johnson & Wales University to help businesses succeed by training and developing employees to meet and exceed the expectations of their guests.