CTO News

Tobago ‘Junior Minister’ Wins CTO Youth Congress

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Sep 16, 2022 – J’nae Brathwaite of Tobago has won the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Tourism Youth Congress which was staged at The Ritz-Carlton in the Cayman Islands on Thursday.

In her winning presentation on Experiential Tourism, the 17-year-old Brathwaite articulately outlined three strategies which would help Tobago meet the growing demand of the millennials and Generation-X market.

A student of Signal Hill Secondary School, Brathwaite pointed to immersive museums, digital marketing of user-generated content and augmented reality tours as initiatives which could further market Tobago and enhance visitor experience.

“I’m still in a daze because I still can’t believe it. When I heard my name called as winner, I literally wanted to melt away,” said an emotional Brathwaite.

“It was a lot but I know that I put in a lot of hard work. I know that my teachers were continually there and my family was always supporting me regardless of the time and circumstance.”

Tobago’s Tourism and Culture Secretary, Tashia Burris, said she was “absolutely elated” by her island’s success at the Youth Congress.

“We certainly see this as a demonstration that our programmes in the education system are working,” Burris said.

“We are trying to invigorate our island post-COVID and one of the strategies we’re using is to really start with the young people and I’m happy to see this bear fruit.”

Seventeen-year-old Marika Baptiste of St Vincent and the Grenadines placed second while 16-year-old Kelvin Archer of the Bahamas was the third place finisher.

Prizes for the top three finishers were sponsored by Sandals Barbados Resort and Spa and the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism.

Eleven countries participated in the Tourism Youth Congress, which was chaired by the 2019 winner Danae Dennie of Turks and Caicos Islands. Each Junior Minister made a three-minute presentation on one of the three topics: Agriculture in Tourism, Experiential Tourism and Community-based Tourism. They were also required to make one-minute presentations on one of three mystery questions.

The Tourism Youth Congress, the first to be staged since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, brought the curtain down on the CTO Business Meetings and Caribbean Aviation Day event which got underway on September 12.

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About the Caribbean Tourism Organization
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), which is headquartered in Barbados, is the Caribbean’s tourism development agency comprising membership of the region’s finest countries and territories including Dutch, English, French and Spanish-speaking, as well as a myriad of private sector allied members. The CTO’s vision is to position the Caribbean as the most desirable, year-round, warm weather destination, and its purpose is Leading Sustainable Tourism – One Sea, One Voice, One Caribbean. Among the benefits to its members the organisation provides specialised support and technical assistance in sustainable tourism development, marketing, communications, advocacy, human resource development, event planning & execution and research & information technology.

The CTO’s Headquarters is located at Baobab Tower, Warrens, St. Michael, Barbados BB 22026; Tel: (246) 427-5242; E-mail: CTObarbados@caribtourism.com. For more information on the Caribbean Tourism Organization, please visit www.OneCaribbean.org and follow CTO on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn to be part of the conversation.

Contact:
Kevin Pile
Communications Consultant, pilek@caribtourism.com