The Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Youth Congress has returned in person for 2022. The annual event, structured to mirror a CTO Board of Directors’ Meeting, aim is to stimulate greater awareness of and excitement about tourism among young people in the 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.
The last in-person event took place in St. John’s Antigua in 2019, where Turks and Caicos Junior Minister of Tourism, Danae Dennie, from the Helena J Robinson High School in Grand Turk took – home the topic and now holds the title of Junior minister of Tourism for the Caribbean Region.
This year, the event is being held on Tuesday, 5th July in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Hosted at Fortis TCI in Providenciales, will see this year’s competition select a new winner and prepare them for the regional competition that takes place in September in the Cayman Islands. Students from around the Turks and Caicos Islands will compete in this competition and it is only eligible to fourth form students.
Miss Blythe Clare, Training Manager for the TCI Tourist Board who spearheads this event, said that she was elated that TCI won the regional competition after years of participation in the regional event, stating: “Danae has indeed made us all proud in TCI.”
The participating schools as follows:
Helena J Robinson High School
Marjorie Basden High
Clement Howell High
Raymond Gardine High
Marantha Academy
Wesley Methodist High
Students who participate in this event benefit from exposure to the 3Es in Tourism: Exciting, Educational and Entertaining experiences; gain an awareness of tourism within his/her country and throughout the region; experience the tourism product of another country; meet new friends and gain a better understanding of the tourism sector, which is critical to the overall social and economic well-being of the Caribbean region.
At the 2022 Tourism Youth Congress, students are required to prepare and come ready to present their ideas on this topic: Experiental Tourism. Each student will be given three (3) minutes to express his/her ideas on the chosen topic. The students are also required to answer a mystery question. It is important to note, that the Youth Congress is not a debating competition.
The judging criteria is as follows:
Knowledge of subject area
Level of preparedness
Presentation of Information
Relevant Content
Poise and Confidence
The Ministry of Tourism and the Tourist Board would like to wish all the participants the best of luck in competition.
