POND ISLAND – On Tuesday, May 15, staff from the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB) visited the St. Maarten Vocation Training School group 4 Business Administration class, where they received a presentation from STB.
STB is continuing with its efforts of bringing greater awareness about the country’s Tourism Industry to the school population. STB Lisa Noel gave the presentation to the students.
The presentation was a very interactive one that sought to test the students’ knowledge about the industry while at the same time teaching them about how they too play a role in helping to shape the country’s main industry.
Acting Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Cornelius de Weever, said on Thursday that the local population is an asset in a country’s tourism product.
“The population overall and in particular, those at an elementary and secondary school level must be aware of the importance of tourism to the national economy, and have a positive attitude towards tourism, because it’s everybody’s business.
“The income earned from our single-pillar tourism economy trickles down into everything. The values of our tourism economy need to be instilled into our education system and the approach by STB at this stage is a great start,” Minister Cornelius de Weever said on Thursday.
STB will continue working with the elementary and secondary schools with regarding to enhancing their knowledge about the tourism industry. The students were presented with St. Maarten Tourist Bureau’s tees and tourism and hospitality pamphlets for their participation.
