Five participants vied for the opportunity to represent the territory, as the 2012 Junior Minister of Tourism. The participants included, Shea Alexander from Bregado Flax Educational Centre; Keithia Grant, Jian Jeffers and Shamoy Davis from Elmore Stoutt High School; and Denesha Penn from St. Georges Secondary School.

The competition was divided into three segments. In the first segment, each participant was asked a question on Sports Tourism, the second segment the participants made a presentation on social media and the third segment consisted of each participant presenting on a mystery topic.

The poised Shea Alexander won the judges vote with his compelling presentations on the allotted topics. Mr. Alexander won first prize in the competition as well as the award for “best Speaker,” Keithia Grant received second runner up and Jian Jeffers received third runner up. As Junior Minister of Tourism, Mr. Alexander will also be travelling to St. Kitts to represent the Territory at the regional Tourism Youth Congress in October.

“I am proud of myself and I am really happy that I got the opportunity to be an ambassador for my country. My family provided me with a lot of support and assistance while I was preparing for this debate. Despite my confidence going into this competition, I was still surprised when they announced that I was the winner,” said Shea Alexander. “My advice to the competing student for next year’s competition is, hard work and dedication pays off as being named the Junior Minister of Tourism will be a worthy reward. I will be happy to assist any of the upcoming participants with their preparation for this prestigious title.”

First prize was a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, sponsored by LIME; Second prize was a Kindle Fire sponsored by Infinite Solutions, third prize was a digital camera sponsored by Royal Cell and the prize for “best speaker” was dinner for two at Little Dix Bay. Each participant also received a handset from LIME.

“The BVI Tourist Board would like to congratulate all the participants for their exceptional performance at the Tourism Debate. This forum has provided an opportunity for the students to further develop their analytical skills whilst gaining experience in this very important arena. We look forward to working with our new Junior Minister of Tourism, Shea Alexander, as he continues on to represent the Territory at the Tourism Youth Congress in St. Kitts,” said Mrs. Faye Smith-Penn, Niche Development Manager at BVI Tourist Board.