ANTIGUA & BARBUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY

The first meeting of students interested in participating in Antigua & Barbuda’s preparations for participation in the 2013 CTO Youth Congress took place last Friday (August 9th). Coordinator of the programme has expressed much satisfaction with the quality of those who were present. “We are in for an excellent 6-8 weeks of preparation leading up to the run-off for the selection of the country’s representative to the Youth Congress, to be held in Martinique in October, said Cynthia G. Simon, Manager, Tourism Education, Training and Awareness within the Ministry of Tourism. Continuing, she said, “the students came to their first meeting with much verve and a ready-to-go attitude, demonstrating a deep interest to increase their knowledge and understanding of Tourism, and a keen desire to be part of the process.”

In addition to research to be done on either the issue of Multigenerational Travel or Caribbean Agritourism, so as to prepare a three minute presentation on the topic selected, participants will be trained in the area of effective presentation skills. They will also be prepared to handle and respond to possible “Mystery” questions which will test their general knowledge of tourism, and will be engaged in hotel site tours and destination tours. The engaging experience will also provide participating youths with the opportunity to develop and strengthen their character strengths at both moral and performance levels.

As the Ministry of Tourism moves into full gear with the preparations, interested students, ages 14 – 17 can join the second meeting at the Multi-Purpose Cultural Centre on Tuesday, August 13th at 1:30 p.m. The invitation remains open until Friday, August 16th and during the period leading up to that date, students may call 462 2506 or 463 9522 to indicate their interest and to obtain further information.