Awards will be presented at Climate Smart Sustainable Tourism Forum taking place from 6-8 September in St. Kitts ~
BRIDGETOWN, Barbado:--- Four Caribbean primary school students ranging in age from 8-12, will be honoured for excellence in tourism writing at next month's Climate Smart Sustainable Tourism Forum in St. Kitts.
The four - Kassie Haley-Shai of St. Augustine Roman Catholic School in Montserrat, Ariah Khobie Diamante Darroux of Convent Preparatory School in Dominica (both in the 8-10 category), Jhe'auti Belyca Craigg of Belmont Government School in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Gabriella Lewis of Atwell's Educational Institute in Trinidad and Tobago (10-12 category) - emerged winners among 44 participants from 26 schools who participated in the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)'s Caribbean Primary Schools Tourism Writing Competition.
The contest, held as part of activities for International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and the CTO's Year of Adventure, was organised to enhance primary school students' awareness of tourism and its value and contribution to the region's social and economic development. It was also meant to challenge the students to think of creative ways to make tourism more sustainable.
"I am very pleased with the level of interest exhibited in this initiative, as evidenced by the diversity of participating schools," said Amanda Charles, the CTO's sustainable tourism development specialist, whose department spearheads the Climate Smart Sustainable Tourism Forum.
"The submissions were all of a high calibre, with the students displaying depth and creativity in their compositions. It is clear that even at the primary school level students are aware of the importance of tourism to the region, can speak eloquently about tourism in their countries and have some insight into the opportunities and challenges associated with tourism development."
The students in the 8-10 category were asked to write about what sustainable tourism meant to them or how visitors and locals should act towards each other to promote peace, while those in the 10-12 category were challenged to conceptualise and describe a new adventure tour or to suggest ways that the CTO can help make tourism in the Caribbean more sustainable. The students in both categories were also given the option of writing on whether they felt tourism does indeed contribute to making the Caribbean region a better place, or to identify an adventure tourism activity in their countries and deliver a sales pitch to encourage tourists to experience that activity.
Themed, Good for Us, Better for All, the 6-8 September Climate Smart Sustainable Tourism Forum is being held in observance of International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and will bring together local, regional, and international representatives from public and private sector tourism entities, as well as development agencies that offer programming in sustainable tourism, for three days of interactive engagements.
Major elements will include best practice sharing and strategic consultations for a CTO climate adaptation project funded by the Caribbean Development Bank, in order to strengthen holistic destination management approaches in the Caribbean. The programme will also include experiential field visits, a meeting of CTO's Sustainable Tourism Technical Committee, and winning presentations from CTO's Primary School Tourism Writing Competition. The event culminates with the presentation ceremony for CTO's 2017 Sustainable Tourism Awards which recognise regional sustainability champions.
Organising partners include the CTO, the St. Kitts Ministry of Tourism, the St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council, and Sustainable Travel International.
The winner of the 2014 CTO/Travel Mole Sustainable Tourism Award in Destination Stewardship, St Kitts is one of the first destinations in the world to be accepted as an early adopter of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council's criteria for destinations. It also is a founding member of the Sustainable Destination Alliance of the Americas, an initiative by the CTO, the Organization of American States, Sustainable Travel International and Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited to promote sustainable destination management in the Caribbean and Central America.
Its many initiatives include the establishment of the Heart of St. Kitts Foundation and Sustainability Charter, which helps businesses understand how their operations contribute to destination-wide sustainability, and to support community projects that make St. Kitts a more sustainable place to live and experience.
