Ms Marika Baptiste, a student of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, placed second in the 2022 Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Regional Youth Congress.
Ms Baptiste represented the multi-island destination, St. Vincent and the Grenadines as this year’s Junior Minister of Tourism.
Junior Minister of Tourism Marika Baptiste competed against ten (10) impressive and remarkable Junior Ministers and Commissioners throughout the region.
Marika Baptiste delivered a riveting presentation on the topic related to Agriculture in Tourism (Agro-Tourism):
“Supplying locally produced food to luxury hotels and cruise ships benefits both the tourism industry and the agricultural sector….”Mrs. Ena Harvey, Representative, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
In her presentation, she identified two (2) possible challenges to pursuing this strategy and recommended two (2) achievable solutions as viable options for the 32 Islands and Cays.
Baptiste will perform the role of Junior Minister for one (1) year.
In her capacity, she is expected to implement a tourism project at her school or in her community as well as play an integral role in the development of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
Communications Manager and Country Coordinator Mrs Jewelene Charles-Scott in her congratulatory remarks expressed, “We are proud of Marika for her superb presentation and representation of the destination at the congress. The Ministry is always pleased to invest in the young people of this country and will continue to provide opportunities so that they too could have an input in the development of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry”.
Ms Annille Beache, Tourism Education Officer at the Ministry of Tourism, was this year’s chaperone. The CTO Regional Tourism Youth Congress, held in the Cayman Islands on 15th September 2022.
