BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THIRTY young persons from across St. Kitts-Nevis are currently participating in a historic YABT Rural Tourism Business Lab Course, the first of its kind to take place in the Caribbean.
The course began yesterday (June 4) with an opening ceremony held at the Conference Room of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, located at Fortlands, Basseterre.
And as was explained by Organisation of American States (OAS) Representative to St. Kitts-Nevis, Starret Greene, the aim of the course is to “advance the development of the next generation of entrepreneurs in St. Kitts and Nevis. It will also build on previous and current programmes, projects, activities and initiatives in the area of entrepreneurship among young people in St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Sponsorship for this historic course comes through the OAS affiliate, Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) in partnership with several other entities.
A press release issued by Representative Greene lists the other stakeholders as Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United National Development Programme (UNDP), the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry of Commerce, Ministries of International Trade, Tourism and International Transport, Youth Empowerment, the Ripple Institute and the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College.
Greene explained that through the UNDP Youth-In Programme, the YABT was enthusiastic about investing in the Federation’s youth, especially in light of the positive ripple effect which such an investment would have.
“A flourishing group of young entrepreneurs (has) the potential to increase employment for young persons who were unemployed, create wealth in the economy, help sustain economic growth and development, through the expansion of the productive sector, and attract and motivate other young people, to establish their own businesses.”
The participating 16-35-year-olds will experience five days packed with skill-honing information which would be imparted by facilitators Rina Yaffe and David Slyper. Both, according to Greene, hail from Israel which boasts “an impressive record in rural tourism development of about 60 years”.
He said the facilitators have a wealth of experience in teaching this type of course, and they have requested input from local experts in tourism, small and medium sized enterprises and financial services.
Resultantly, “The participants would have the opportunity to learn a number of tools such as inter-personal skills, leadership and networking, training and experience, strategic alliances and the application of technological resources in business development,” Greene explained.
On conclusion of the course, the participants would be certificated and the closing ceremony – which is slated for Friday (June 8) - is expected to showcase presentations made by the participants to the local tourism, small business development and financial services experts.
This publication understands that having completed this leg of the exercise, the facilitators would be on their way to Grenada to conduct a similar course there.
