ANTIGUA & BARBUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY

Antigua and Barbuda’s Junior Minister of Tourism Autumn Odlum is off to represent the country at the CTO’s (Caribbean Tourism Organization) Caribbean Youth Congress which commenced today in Martinique.
 

The Youth Congress is structured to mirror a CTO Board of Directors’ Meeting. There will be an agenda for discussion, with topics on salient tourism issues which participants have to research beforehand.

 

Students are required to prepare ONE of two topics to discuss during the forum. Each student will be given three (3) minutes to express his/her ideas on the chosen topic. The 2013 topics are “Multi-Generational Travel” and “Caribbean Agri-tourism….There’s More to it Than Visiting the Farms”, along with a question chosen on a mystery topic. It is however important to note that the forum is not a debate.

 

Ms. Odlum is accompanied by Mrs. Cynthia Simon, Manager of Tourism, Education Training and Awareness within the Ministry of Tourism, as well as the first runner-up in the recently held local run-offs for the title, Ms. A’Shante O’Keiffe.

 

While in Martinique, the delegation will attend presentations with Tourism Industry Leaders. Additionally, they will accompany the other Regional Junior Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism, along with their Chaperones, on a destination tour to get to know and enjoy the highlights of the Martinique's tourism product.

 

Antigua’s Junior Minister of Tourism, Autumn Odlum is a fifth form student of the Antigua Girls High School. She is a school Prefect, the Vice President of the Interact Club, a member of the Junior Optimist Octagon International (JOOI) Club, President of the 5^th Form Fund-Raising Committee, a member of Antigua Girls’ High School Choir and an Environmental Cadet. Ms. Odlum is currently preparing to sit ten (10) subjects in the 2014 CXC CSEC Exams.

The CTO Youth Congress is held annually during the State of the Industry Conference which runs from the 16^th to the 18^th of October this year.

 

Antigua & Barbuda participates in CTO Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress with satisfactory levels of success, having placed three out of five times in the top three positions, between 2006 and 2012 with no Congress held in 2009 and 2010.