CASTRIES, St. Lucia – Young and vibrant thinkers from the Caribbean are among the headliners of the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx) to be held in St. Lucia, October 12-16, 2005.
Organisers of the bi-annual media meeting announced that two “junior ministers of tourism”, from Barbados and St. Kitts and Nevis, who won debating honours at previous editions of the annual Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) Travel + Leisure Youth Congress have confirmed their participation.
Kittitan Nisharma Rattan-Mack, the 2003 winner, and last year’s champ Justin Seale of Barbados, who both won the debate at separate CTO conferences in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, are gearing up for a lively discussion when delegates meet in St. Lucia to examine the enhancement of sustainable tourism development through the lens of “Chic Communications Concepts”, discussing culinary, cultural, health, sports, and village tourism linkages over four days in Castries.
The 5th anniversary and 14th edition of CMEx will also focus on HIV/AIDS and what’s needed to mitigate the impact of the disease and others on regional populations.
“Youth have to be heeded by tourism officials because this group will propel sustainable tourism into the future,” said Lelei LeLaulu, President of Counterpart International, who thanked CTO and Travel + Leisure for helping to cultivate the rich talent within the Caribbean region. “Once young people are engaged in tourism then sustainable tourism which benefits the communities becomes possible,” added LeLaulu, who said the organisers also were appealing to local St. Lucian youth to get involved.
And Caribbean youth acknowledge that they need the tools, such as apprenticeship training, and stand ready to be advocates for issues such as conservation, the environment, and the use of Caribbean foods and tropical designs within the accommodations sector.
CMEx participants at the San Juan meeting earlier this year agreed that informed and active youth should lead their generation in recognizing the importance of sustainable tourism to the continuing health, wealth and dynamism of communities and their cultures.
Successive media exchanges organized by Counterpart International have stressed the need for policy makers to start the education of children on the benefits of tourism early and to follow Bahamas’, Barbados’ and Jamaica’s lead by skillfully integrating the importance of tourism into the primary school curriculum.
It is only by such changes that tourism can become sustainable and truly beneficial for the peoples of the region. Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, current CTO Secretary General, has often declared at CMEx gatherings: “The best and brightest youth of the region should see tourism as their first and not their last resort for a career.”
A tangible action step to promote youth leadership within this sector includes launching forums for youth to identify pertinent issues and brainstorm solutions. Also, talks on establishing an on-line youth magazine dubbed “The Genius of the Caribbean Youth” began at the San Juan meeting. With the purpose of explaining and enhancing the culture of the Caribbean, the virtual magazine would raise consciousness and develop leaders.
CMEx St. Lucia, produced by Counterpart International, is sponsored and/or supported by Air Jamaica, Almond Resorts, Association of Caribbean Media Workers, The Barbara Pyle Foundation, Bay Gardens Hotel, Black Entertainment Television (BET J), Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism, Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Hotel Association, Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Caribbean World News Network, Coco Resorts, Counterpart Caribbean, Destiny Group of Companies, Ruder Finn, Scotiabank, St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association, St. Lucia Ministry of Tourism, St. Lucia Tourist Board, Sunswept Resorts, Tourism Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago and the United Nations Development Programme
