Maliah Stuart of the Christ the King High School has been named as Antigua and Barbuda’s 2023/2024 Junior Minister of Tourism after out-performing 4 other contenders at the recently held National Tourism Youth Congress Speech Competition on June 21st.
The National Tourism Youth Congress is an annual event organized by the Tourism Education, Training and Awareness Unit within the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Transportation and Investment, and provides a forum for students between the ages of 14 to 17 to share their ideas about the future direction of Caribbean Tourism.
During the competition discourse, participating students articulated ideas relevant to building a resilient and sustainable workforce, wellness tourism, and accessibility in tourism through insightful and innovative presentations. In addition, the students were also given a mystery question pertinent to the tourism industry and were allotted one minute to share their recommendations.
Other participants included second runner-up Christina Paul of the Antigua Girls High School, first runner-up Mekelle Richards of the St. Anthony’s Secondary School, Royal Dias of the Pares Secondary School and Nathan Clarke of the Antigua Grammar School.
As the new Junior Minister of Tourism, Mahalia Stuart will receive a laptop, a plaque, a certificate of participation, a 2 night stay for 2 at the Hodges Bay Resort and Spa and will go on to represent Antigua and Barbuda at the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Regional Youth Congress to be held in the Turks and Caicos Islands later this year,
The Regional Youth Congress is an integral part of CTO’s annual tourism conference and aims to stimulate greater awareness and excitement about tourism among young people in our Caribbean communities by allowing them to research various facets of the tourism sector and share their ideas and vision.
The Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Transportation and Investment wishes to express gratitude to Gather steak house, Ana’s on the Beach, Royalton Resort, Tropical Adventures and Big Banana for contributing prizes for the runners-up and coaches.