O’Brian Lewis of Jamaica Wins Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)’s Tourism Youth Congress Competition

O'Brian Lewis (second right)

Sixteen year old  O’Brian Lewis  a student of Oberlin High School in Jamaica has emerged winner of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)’s Tourism Youth Congress  which was recently held in St Kitts


The debating competition mimics a meeting of the CTO Council of Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism.

In second place went to  Christopher Morgan of Harrison College in Barbados, with Kirano Jivani of Learning Unlimited Preparatory School in St. Maarten and Arean Louis of Majorie Basden High School in the Turks and Caicos Islands, tied for third.

Fourteen visionaries aged 14-17 from across the Caribbean presented a number of exciting ideas on sports tourism, social media and celebrity endorsements. Among the recommendations were an annual Nature Islands Games to attract visitors to Dominica, a high level tennis academy in Antigua and a museum in Jamaica to honour the country’s sporting heroes.

“Imagine entering a black green building, where, at the entrance, you are greeted by cool reggae music, to the right, you see Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, to your left, you find cricketers Courtney Walsh or Chris Gayle,” Lewis said of his proposed museum.

This year’s Youth Congress was held at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and was attended by Ministers, Commissioners and Directors of Tourism, senior tourism officials and 350 high school and tertiary students from the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis. It was chaired by last year’s winner, Kitwanie Carbon of Dominica.


Photo credit; Jamaica Gleaner