The new Junior Minister of Tourism, Dylan Ramdin, has a keen interest in science and medicine and is brainstorming ways to enhance tourism, another area of interest, through those fields.
Yesterday, after he defeated eight other contestants for the title, Ramdin, a student of Christ Church Foundation School, said the sciences and medicine could be used to the benefit of the tourism industry both in Barbados and abroad.
“Everybody needs scientists and doctors, including tourists,” he said.
Additionally the avid gamer and technology buff said he chose to speak on the topic Virtual Reality And Tourism, Enticing A New Generation because he felt very strongly about utilising new technology everywhere it can be used, including tourism.
Ramdin said it was a lot of work and sacrifice for him and teacher/trainer Justin Seale, who was the Junior Minister of Tourism in 2005.
Seale said the school opened the competition to all students but the response was lukewarm and they sought someone from the debating club, of which Ramdin was a member.
Seale said he did not give Ramdin many pointers, but told him “to feel free to own it”.
“It is not really me; it is him. It is his ability to do it; it is his ability to think well and speak very well,” he said.
Ramdin praised the contest, which showcased the importance of tourism. He said many young people did not appreciate tourism as much as they should because they did not see the importance of it, due to tourism not being taught enough in schools, advertised or shown as being as glamorous as other careers.
Meanwhile, guest experiences manager for Barbados Tourism Product Authority, Marsha Alleyne, said they found a correlation between the schools they took the “I am Tourism” campaign to and those which participated this year.
Alleyne said since the programme’s introduction in 2002, they had seen “the switch” where students came in not having a clue or an interest in the tourism industry, but later found careers there.
The contestants had to choose from the topics Virtual Reality And Tourism, Enticing a New Generation; Building Smart Caribbean Countries and Year Of Wellness And Rejuvenation.
Ramdin got 101 points, Danielle McDonald of The St Michael School was second with 93 and The Lodge School’s Ashley Griffith placed third with 85. (LK)
