J’nae Brathwaite of Tobago has won the Caribbean Tourism Organization ( CTO ) Tourism Youth Congress which was staged at The Ritz-Carlton in the Cayman Islands on Thursday.
In her winning presentation on Experiential Tourism, the 17-year-old Brathwaite articulately outlined three strategies which would help Tobago meet the growing demand of the millennials and Generation-X market.
A student of Signal Hill Secondary School, Brathwaite pointed to immersive museums, digital marketing of user-generated content and augmented reality tours as initiatives which could further market Tobago and enhance visitor experience.
“I’m still in a daze because I still can’t believe it. When I heard my name called as winner, I literally wanted to melt away,” said an emotional Brathwaite.
“It was a lot, but I know that I put in a lot of hard work. I know that my teachers were continually there, and my family was always supporting me regardless of the time and circumstance.”
Tobago’s Tourism and Culture Secretary, Tashia Burris, said she was “absolutely elated” by her island’s success at the Youth Congress.
“We certainly see this as a demonstration that our programs in the education system are working,” Burris said.
“We are trying to invigorate our island post-COVID and one of the strategies we’re using is to really start with the young people and I’m happy to see this bear fruit.”
Sixteen-year-old Kelvin Archer of the Bahamas placed second while 17-year-old Marika Baptiste was the third-place finisher.
Prizes for the top three finishers were sponsored by Sandals Barbados Resort and Spa and the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism.
Eleven countries participated in the Tourism Youth Congress, which was chaired by the 2019 winner Danae Dennie of Turks and Caicos Islands. Each Junior Minister made a three-minute presentation on one of the three topics: Agriculture in Tourism, Experiential Tourism and Community-based Tourism. They were also required to make one-minute presentations on one of three mystery questions.
The Tourism Youth Congress, the first to be staged since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, brought the curtain down on the CTO Business Meetings and Caribbean Aviation Day event which got underway on September 12.