Miss Aroma David has been appointed as the 2023 Junior Minister of Tourism for St. Vincent and the Grenadines by the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development, and Culture.
Miss David, a St. Vincent Girls’ High School student, won this year’s Local Tourism Youth Congress on Monday, July 31st, 2023, when she contested against Mr. Roman Rodriquez of the North Union Secondary School. The Junior Minister of Tourism will represent St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Turks and Caicos Islands’ Regional Tourism Youth Congress in October 2023.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization’s annual State of the Industry Conference includes the Regional Tourism Youth Congress, which “seeks to shape future tourism industry leaders by using its platform to incite and inspire change, through their presentations on issues relevant to the growth and sustainability of the tourism sector.”
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) organized the first Regional Tourism Youth Congress in Barbados in the year 2000. According to the CTO, the congress was designed to raise awareness among the region’s young people about the tourist industry and its importance. Participants aged 14 to 17 represent their respective CTO member countries as Junior Ministers/Commissioners of Tourism.
Marika Baptiste, a St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) student at the time, finished second in the 2022 Regional Youth Congress held in the Cayman Islands.
