On October 29, 2026, the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) and St. John’s College formalized a long-awaited collaborative memorandum of understanding to launch the Elevate Training Institute, a national specialized hospitality training hub housed in the long-shuttered Stochl Hall in downtown Belize City. The heritage facility, which had sat largely dormant for 15 consecutive years after ceasing operations in 2011, has been fully repurposed to deliver industry-aligned, hands-on professional training for Belizeans seeking to build globally competitive careers in the fast-growing tourism and hospitality sector.
For decades, Stochl Hall previously served as St. John’s College’s extension campus, designed to provide second-chance educational pathways for learners who had not completed high school, a mission aligned closely with the legacy of the building’s namesake Father Stochl. The newly reimagined space now features a state-of-the-art dedicated teaching kitchen as the centerpiece of its culinary arts track, alongside specialized training zones for front desk operations, tour guiding, customer service excellence, and hospitality supervisory management.
Evan Tillett, Director of the Belize Tourism Board, emphasized that the years-long initiative fills a critical gap in the country’s tourism ecosystem by moving beyond scattered ad-hoc training programs to establish a permanent, purpose-built physical hub for upskilling workers across every tier of the tourism industry. The $750,000 total investment for the Elevate Training Institute is fully funded by the BTB, and the program has secured formal partnerships with leading global industry accreditation bodies including the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute and the American Culinary Federation. A robust train-the-trainer framework has also been implemented to certify local Belizean instructors, ensuring long-term program sustainability and localized relevance for learners.
St. John’s College President Mirtha Peralta noted that the existing institutional hospitality programming, which currently serves roughly 60 junior college students across pathways spanning secondary to tertiary levels, will see significant expansion through the new institute. Graduates of the program will earn internationally recognized industry certifications that unlock direct access to both senior tourism roles within Belize’s thriving hospitality sector and overseas employment or advanced higher education opportunities across the global tourism market.