Published 10 May 2019
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
The local 2019 Youth Tourism Congress took place at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel on May 10 where Mauriel Knight of the Basseterre High School, Zareef Dias of the Verchild’s High School and Patrina Perreria of Saddlers Secondary came in second, third and fourth respectively.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Carlene Henry-Morton, stated that the competition afforded the participants the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and learn from tourism experts, through research, about the global, regional and local tourism industry, and sharpen their public speaking skills so they express themselves convincingly and with clarity.
Mrs. Morton said that the Ministry of Tourism recognizes that the youth play an important part in the development of the country. She added that recommendations made by the students will be taken into consideration.
“We recognize that you the youth are the change agents in our society. So we are relying on your fresh perspectives to help to chart our tourism future,” she said. “Today as you discuss and share ideas of the tourism sector we assure you we are not just going through the motions of having another annual event. For us, this is an important exercise which must be treated with serious careful attention and concerted and collaborative effort that it deserves.”
Students were asked to present on one of the three main topics, which included Smart Travelling Experiences within the Caribbean Region, Equipping Our Youth to thrive in a Changing Tourism Environment and Making Excellence a Habit in Caribbean Tourism.
The judges stated that the students displayed excellent preparation in their presentation and research. They noted that the videos each student played enhanced their presentations.
According to the CTO, “the Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress is an integral part of CTO’s annual tourism conference and is a regional activity involving students between the ages of 14-17 from CTO member countries. Its main aim is to stimulate greater awareness and excitement about tourism among young people in our Caribbean communities, by allowing them to research various facets of the tourism sector and share their ideas and vision with respect to future directions for Caribbean tourism.”
