Hospitality staff required

A local training provider aims to help overcome a “deficiency” of hospitality professionals in Broome by establishing an innovative training facility.

The Kimberley Training Institute is negotiating their training facility which will provide fulltime training in all aspects of hospitality.

The announcement comes after WA’s “most feared” food critic Rob Broadfield, one of the guest judges at this year’s Shinju Matsuri Pearl Meat Cook Off competition, spoke to the Broome Advertiser last month, describing Broome as having a “deficiency” of professionals in the sector.

Mr Broadfield said local businesses needed to have a relationship with the local training provider to invest in training and retaining more hospitality staff to meet the demands of Broome’s increasing population.

KTI hospitality lecturer Richard Agar said there were a number of factors which contributed to a lack of long-term hospitality staff in Broome, such as low pay, unsociable hours, high costs of living and a transient population.

However, Mr Agar said there were many examples of “excellence in service provision in Broome,” and the institute was working to improve its relationship with the industry.

“As the major training provider of hospitality training in Broome, our team of trainers stay abreast of the latest industry trends,” he said.

“We are constantly looking at better ways to work with industry for continuous improvement.”