(SVG-Searchlight)Aroma David, a student of the Girls’ High School, is the Junior Minister of Tourism for St Vincent and the Grenadines for 2023.
The announcement was made earlier this week by the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development and Culture after David won the 2023 Local Tourism Youth Congress on July 31 in a competition with Roman Rodriquez of the North Union Secondary School.
The Junior Minister of Tourism will represent St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) at the Regional Tourism Youth Congress which will be hosted by the Turks and Caicos Islands in October 2023.
The Regional Tourism Youth Congress forms part of Caribbean Tourism Organization’s annual State of the Industry Conference and “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) convened the first Regional Tourism Youth Congress in the year 2000 when it was hosted by Barbados. According to the CTO, the congress was conceived with the objective of stimulating a greater awareness among the region’s young people about the tourism sector and its importance. Participants ages 14-17 assume the role of Junior Ministers/Commissioners of Tourism, to represent their respective CTO member country.
Marika Baptiste, who was then student of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) placed second in the 2022 Regional Youth Congress which was held in the Cayman Islands.