How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - Online Travel Booking Agency Bookit.com is expanding in Jamaica with 200 plus CSA's as Online Travel Booking Industry explodes in 2014

“It's pretty amazing we have only been open in Jamaica for about three to four weeks ...and part of that of course is training and in just a few hours on the phone for the first couple of weeks. But as we listened to the calls they are very professional they sound like people who have been with us for many years. And it comes across extremely well”

Bookit.com founder and CEO Bud Finlaw in an interview with the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday, December 18^th, 2013

Mobay Call Center Peeps, you know I love you. Ever since I did that article on Convergyns coming to Montego Bay to build a Call Center from Scratch and start off employing some 3000 CSA (Call Center Agents) at the start of 2013 as stated in my blog article entitled “Convergyns and Aegis Communications Call Centers Coming – FDI powered Call Center Renaissance in Jamaica thanks to our Good English” I’ve gotten readership on the issues concerning Call Centers ever since.

Well Mobay people I’ve been keeping track of Convergyns and no new word on when they’ll come to Jamaica. However, I do have intel on a new Call Center called Bookit.com which ironically is related DIRECTLY to what Mobay does best that being tourism as stated in “Large online travel agency sets up MoBay call centre”, published Wednesday, December 18, 2013 BY HORACE HINES Observer staff reporter MONTEGO BAY, St James, The Jamaica Observer.

Online Travel Booking a US$1 trillion per annum Industry – Call Center Move Logical

Bookit.com, one of the largest Online Travel Booking Agencies in North America, started in November 2013 with 50 agents in the Teleperformance Centre in Montego Bay and is now Growing Strong like House Tyrell from Game of Thrones. The Online Travel Booking Industry is always growing and the means by which potential Travelers search for, access and make bookings has evolved beyond Laptop and PC’s to also include Tablets and smartphones.

Bookit.com set up shop in the recently Telecom Provider LIME liberated Montego Bay Freezone as stated in my blog article entitled “Montego Bay Freezone Liberalized as LIME's Jamaica DigiPort International gives up its Monopoly - Call Centers Age of Empire as Mandeville Beckons”. This liberalization back in July 2011 has seen a flurry of activity with many new Call Centers rushing now that the fiefdom that was once Telecom Provider LIME was unbundled due to its small contribution to their overall bottom line.

Consequently this US$1 trillion a year industry is seeing rapid expansion and fierce global competition according to Expedia.com executives one of Bookit.com’s competitors as stated at their 14^th Annual Conference in the article “Expedia pushes to double share of online travel booking market”, published Tuesday, December 24, 2013 BY ARLENE MARTIN-WILKINS Associate editor — news, The Jamaica Observer.

This has fueled a desire to increase their market share to get more out of this ever-growing and rapidly expanding Industry in 2014. In anticipation of this, the BPIAJ (Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica) has partnered with the HEART Trust/NTA to train the 3000 plus workers needed to keep up with the demands of the rapidly growing BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) in Jamaica, which is expected to grow by some 25% this year as noted in the article “BPO Sector Set To Surge 25% - BPIAJ”, Published Friday July 5, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner and “HEART/NTA, BPIAJ sign MOU on IT training programme”, published Sunday, June 16, 2013 4:54 PM, The Jamaica Observer.

The BPIAJ (Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica), anticipating this increased interest in the Call Center World, has put in place plans for a US$900,000 incubator to facilitate local Jamaica businesses that wish to get into the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) Game to rent a few seats for their accounts as described in “Big boost!”, published Thursday, November 28, 2013 BY MARK CUMMINGS Editor-at-Large, Western Bureau, The Jamaica Observer.

Chairman of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ), Yoni Epstein explains his intent best, quote: “This incubator will help put the already available call centre space into the market where existing growing players that may have a fast ramp-up can rent the space for a short-term period, while it builds out somewhere else, or in a situation where a new entrant is coming in and wants to ramp up quickly and test the market, they can rent space in this facility for a short period of time while it builds out a space. It will be a revolving door with either persons renting small portions of it, or the entire space for a short period of time”.

So if you in interested in the Online Travel Booking Industry, now’s the time to get in. Best of all, the BPIAJ may be able to facilitate your interest in the Call Center World by renting you space while you hunt for more permanent facilities.

Growth means more Seats for Bookit.com – 200+ CSA needed in 2014

Growth is on the horizon for this account as they’ve made projections for more seats by early 2014 as per the statement by Bookit.com founder and CEO Bud Finlaw, quote: “We are starting with 50 people as we speak right now which will double in the next two or three weeks and probably double again with the success of this venture. We are going to be celebrating our 10th anniversary in the year 2014 and part of our growth is to expand and we chose Jamaica as the place to open up our new call centre. We looked to quite a few places. Jamaica was one of many choices that we had but when the decision time came we found out that really we had our heart here”.

So how much growth is coming in Bookit.com, to break down all this talk into practical terms that appeal to potential employees in the Call Center World? About 200 CSA’s according to Minister of Tourism and Entertainment Dr. Wykeham McNeil, quote: “They are going to employ about 200 people in the short term. It’s good for Jamaica, it's going to have Jamaicans on the call centres. The positive of that also is that when they are answering the phone they will be speaking about Jamaica with passion, they will speak about Jamaica with a knowledge of what is Jamaica, while being able to do the rest of the world”

Folks in Mobay, start making enquiries with regards to work in the Teleperformance Centre in the Montego Bay FreeZone as you may be able to secure one of 200 plus jobs that are bound to come on-stream as the Call Center World Expands. When I get wind of any news relating to Convergyns, I’ll be sure to post it!