Rising tourism stars feature in NYC Caribbean week

The recently concluded and very successful Caribbean Week in New York celebrated the sights, sounds, colors, culture and unique attributes of the Region.  This year, the youth- the Rising Stars in the Tourism Industry, one of this year’s addition to the week were also featured.

Interns at the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s office in New York, on a challenge issued by the Director of Marketing, developed a program that would attract participation from their colleagues studying Tourism and Hospitality at the tertiary level and would keep them engaged in regional tourism activities.  The assignment focused on creating a Sustainable Tourism initiative that would be judged on the research and free-style presentation about a project that could be implemented in the Caribbean.  This gave rise to the Student Colloquium, hosted and co-sponsored by Pace University, downtown Manhattan on Tuesday June 7, 2011.

The three main objectives of the Colloquium were to catalyze creativity through competitiveness and scholastic research; to enhance in-class learning among students by heightening sensitivity to the sustainable efforts of the Caribbean region and to provide a platform for promoting the Caribbean as the premier travel destination.

The audience comprising Ministers and Directors of Tourism, CTO executives, Students, Professors and other interested individuals, were in for a treat.  There was fierce competition among the 7 participating Teams from the US and the Caribbean. The teams from the Caribbean were the University of the West Indies- Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute and University of Technology-Jamaica. The teams from the United States were The University of New Haven-Connecticut, Monroe College-New Rochelle Campus, Monroe College-Bronx Campus and Pace University.

The teams’ presentations demonstrated that they were well researched, practical and sustainable.  The young presenters were poised and professional and the competition was fierce.  The judges comprising Ms. Gail Henry, Sustainable Tourism Product Specialist, Caribbean Tourism Organization, Mrs. Ena Harvey: Hemispheric Specialist-Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture and Mr.  Earlston McPhee, Director-Sustainable Tourism, Ministry of Tourism Bahamas in their professional judgment named the following winners:

1. First: University of New Haven Connecticut which presented on Designing and creating the sustainable hotel of the future: The new face of hotels in the next ten years.
2. Second: University of Technology Jamaica presenting on Developing a sustainable tourism project that can be utilized by young people who are unemployed or are about to complete tertiary education in the Caribbean.
3. Third: Monroe College Bronx Campus presenting on Develop a plan for the way forward for Haiti’s tourism industry and product but in a more sustainable and responsible tourism manner.

The Colloquium was the creation of 4 CTO interns Javier Jacobs-Antigua, Adrian Henry-Jamaica, Sade Deane-Barbados and Andrea Church-Grenada.

The event was supported by the Barbados Tourism Authority, St. Kitts Tourism Authority, CitiTech Solutions, Ocean Terrace Resort St. Kitts, and Sunbay Hotel Barbados.

The winners have been invited to present at the upcoming annual Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development scheduled to be held in Guyana in April 2012.