John Rickards from St. Vincent & the Grenadines Announced Winner of the 2007 Condé Nast Traveler "My Caribbean" Essay Contest
~~Adz:Left~~(San Juan, Puerto Rico): In an award ceremony held yesterday (Tuesday) at the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Klara Glowczewska, Editor in Chief of Condé Nast Traveler, announced that 11-year-old John Rickards from St. Vincent & The Grenadines was the winner of the the Condé Nast Traveler “My Caribbean“ Essay Contest. Glowczewska also announced the two runners-up: Chante Springer of Barbados and Alexander Fonseca of Belize. This contest, now in its 15th year, is the first of its kind for Caribbean school children, and has become a symbol of Condé Nast Traveler’s commitment to the development of the Caribbean.
Grand prize winner John Rickards received a $2,000 scholarship and the two runners-up each received a $500 scholarship. John’s winning essay will also be featured in the January “Gold List” issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Given the topic: “Imagine you are the Minister of Tourism for your island. What would you do, and what projects could you create, to help bring locals and tourists closer together?” John wrote:
I want locals to be involved in order to make tourism a success. First, I would examine all the natural tourist attractions such as waterfalls, the volcano, beaches, and hiking trails. I would have workshops with the locals to inform them of the importance of natural attractions and how they could play a part by securing these attractions from criminals in order to make the tourists more safe. The locals would act as tour guides whenever tourists would visit the island and educate tourists about our local culture.
This annual contest, administered through the school system in each Caribbean country, strives to educate primary and early secondary school children in the Caribbean about the importance of tourism in their region. After a multi-step judging process involving the ministries of tourism, the ministries of education and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, a finalist was chosen on each island. Each of the 28 finalists and a chaperone were flown to the Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC) in San Juan, Puerto Rico to enjoy three days of experiencing the local culture and interacting with their government delegates and ministers of tourism. The contest is sponsored by Condé Nast Traveler, as well as the Caribbean Tourism Organization, American Airlines, HRG North America, Holiday Inn San Juan, Puerto Rico Tourism Company, Museo de las Americas and Destination Puerto Rico (operated by Travel Services, Inc.)
This year‘s 28 finalists in alphabetical order by country are:~~Adz:Right~~
Anguilla: Johnessa Harrigan
Antigua & Barbuda: Aaliyah Mussington
Aruba: Simran Mirpuri
Barbados: Chanté Springer
Belize: Alexander Fonseca
Bahamas: Ferré Cambridge
Bermuda: Arisha-Renee Butterfield
British Virgin Islands: Kenisha Frett
Cayman Islands: Jaida Alexander
Curacao: Maximiliaan Van Aalst
Dominica: Miranda Forde
Grenada: Kaze'll Banfield
Guyana: Kevin Camacho
Haiti: Sybille Legitime
Jamaica: Jason Gooden
Martinique: Meddy Marguerite
Montserrat: Nikita Howe
Nevis: Kerese Elliott
Puerto Rico: Blanca Pagan Amaro
St. Eustatius: Jaiir Jack
St. Kitts: Krystal Lescott
St. Lucia: Mitchelle Augustin
St. Maarten: Julique Hodge
St. Vincent & The Grenadines: John Rickards
Suriname: Nicole Ritfeld
Trinidad & Tobago: Nikolai Beharry
Turks & Caicos: Jesthea Saunders
U.S. Virgin Islands: Sh'Nae Carr
About Condé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler's philosophy of "Truth in Travel", where writers pay their own way, travel unannounced, and are independent from the travel industry, is unique in the publishing industry. The result is that Condé Nast Traveler reports on travel the way consumers experience it: freely, fairly, honestly. The editorial and ad page leader in the field, Condé Nast Traveler has won 6 National Magazine Awards, the highest honor in magazine publishing. Condé Nast Traveler, the 2005 Zagat Survey Best Travel Magazine and a 2004 Advertising Age "A-List" magazine, has a rate base of 800,000 and is published by Condé Nast Publications, Inc.
