Marika to represent SVG at regional youth tourism congress in Cayman Islands

By Admin. Updated 5:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 14, 2022, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).

Marika Baptiste is representing St Vincent and the Grenadines at the 2022 Regional Tourism Youth Congress in the Cayman Islands on September 15, 2022.

According to the Caribbean Tourism Organization – CTO, the Youth Congress is a developmental competition involving students aged 14 to 17 from CTO member countries who debate on regional tourism matters.

Its main aim is to stimulate greater awareness and excitement about tourism among young people in our Caribbean communities

The Caribbean Tourism Organization says:

Marika Baptiste is a 17-year-old student at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College. She is an accomplished public speaker having won the 2020 National Lion’s Club public speaking competition and the 2021 US Black History Month speech competition. Twice she anchored the OECS Yes I News and was the featured speaker at the 2021 OECS Education Forum.

In addition, she is also a student athlete, having twice won the victrix ludorum title and several divisional titles at her Alma Mater ,the St. Vincent Girls’ High School. She was also a member of the Under 16 National Netball team which represented St. Vincent in Saint Lucia in 2018 and a member of the National Under 23 training squad.

Marika is one of two youth preachers and functions as secretary of the Chauncey Methodist youth group. She enjoys singing, dancing, spending time with family and making funny videos.

She aspires to be a forensic scientist or physiotherapist and her favorite quote is one from the late Eleanor Roosevelt, as she too believes that “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent”.

The CTO says it is happy to have Sandals Barbados Resort & Spa and the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism on board as sponsors of the Youth Congress.