Grade six students of the Willikies and Newfield Primary schools recently participated in a “Tourist for a Day” activity facilitated by the Tourism, Education, Training and Awareness Unit within the Ministry of Tourism.
“The Ministry of Tourism and Investment is very youth focused,” the Acting Manager of the Tourism, Education, Training and Awareness Unit, Tracey Browne told OBSERVER media yesterday.
“We recognize that the future viability of the tourism industry depends on our young people. Therefore, the ‘Tourist for a Day’ programme seeks to stimulate awareness and excitement about tourism among young persons.”
Browne added that the ultimate goal of the initiative is for young people to gain positive exposure to the tourism industry and to view it as a career of first choice.
“It seeks to provide them with a memorable tourist-type experience by exposing them to various historical sites and places of interest that a typical tourist may want to see. We aim for students to gain an appreciation for their country and what it has to offer to them and tourists,” she said.
Browne noted that the Tourist for a Day activity comes at an important time in the student’s lives as they are preparing for their Grade 6 National Assessment, thereby enabling them to acquire a fresh perspective based on their presence in an informal environment in which they were acutely engaged.
She believes such activities can improve interpersonal and social skills, as well as the overall learning and development of the students.
The initiative was also designed to afford students the opportunity to go beyond the classroom’s description of a tourist’s experience by acquainting them with various historical sites and places of interest.
Some historical sites visited by the students were the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Government House, Antigua Recreation Grounds, The Cenotaph, Westerby Memorial, Gunthropes Sugar Factory, Barnes Hill Community Reservoir, The Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, St. John’s Cathedral, Prince Klass Monument, Wallings Reservoir and Nature Reserve, and Nelson’s Dockyard.
The “tourists” ended their day tour with a meal at Sweet T’s in Falmouth.