Charlestown, Nevis
November 06, 2007
Premier of Nevis and Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Joseph Parry, on Tuesday November 6th 2007, joined with the rest of the region to endorse the observance of Caribbean Tourism Day 2007. The annual observance designated by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation is celebrated this year under the theme “The next generation: learning form the past, preparing for the future”
The Tourism Minister accompanied by Tourism Officer, Miss Nicole Liburd and Principal Education Officer Mrs. Jennifer Hodge, visited the Charlestown Secondary School (CSS) during its morning assembly and presented a US$200 cheque to Miss I-Shana Broadbelt. Miss Broadbelt won the senior category in the local leg of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) “My Caribbean” Essay Contest.
While he commended Miss Broadbelt and the school for their outstanding performance Mr. Parry seized the opportunity to explain the importance of the theme and encouraged the students to continue to participate in the competitions.“Nevis has done well regionally and internationally in tourism. We have entered many, many competitions and we have been winners quite often. We want all of you to take part in these competitions. Ask your parents, your teachers, your friends to help you because it does two things. It helps you to understand what tourism does for us and it helps you to be better writers of essays and English”¦
“Every country is involved in tourism. The theme for today – the next generation, that means you- learning from the past – in other words looking back to see what we have done good and what we have done wrong ““ preparing for the future. I want you to learn from the past, learn from your parents, learn form your teachers and look for the opportunities that will be offered to you in tourism,” he said.
The Premier, who is also Minister of Education, stressed the significant role tourism continued to play in the socio-economic development of the island. He said not only did the industry offer employment in various areas but it also provided several opportunities.
“Tourism is the number one sector in our economy and there are many, many opportunities for all of us. Now you students may feel that there is no opportunity for you in tourism. Many of you want to go to University, many of you want to go abroad, and many of you want to be technicians. Let me tell you there are many, many opportunities – if you want to be a lawyer, you can benefit from tourism and if you want to be a carpenter you can benefit from tourism. If you want to be an accountant you can benefit from tourism, a manager, whatever you want to be there are opportunities in tourism. I want you to ask as many persons as possible what the opportunities in tourism are,” the Tourism Minister said.
Mr. Parry also took the opportunity to congratulate all of the students for their meritorious performance in all of the competitions.
Meantime, Tourism Officer Miss Nicole Liburd said the occasion was fitting in light of the fact that it was Caribbean Tourism Day. She applauded the students but singled out Nevis’ first junior Minister of Tourism Miss Ashlee Parris, who recently represented the island for the first time ever in the Travel and Leisure’s Annual Youth Congress.
“Ashlee, you deserve a huge round of applause for your fantastic performance, it is never easy to be in such a forum representing your country among 17 other bright and enthusiastic students, but you did Nevis proud.
“I want to encourage all the students at CSS and other secondary schools to continue to participate in these regional competitions, as the opportunities that await you when you perform well are endless,” she said.
In an effort to increase public awareness of the vast opportunities that the tourism sector provided Miss Liburd also launched a campaign on the various competitions which she said included essay, photography, art and graphics design.
Another competition opened to Secondary Schools is the National Geographic Magazine’s photography contest called “In My View”.
The brief, yet significant ceremony was also witnessed by members of the school’s faculty and parent, Ms. Larissa Claxton.