Adrianne Thomas Named 2024 British Virgin Islands Junior Ambassador of Tourism

Elmore Stoutt High School Student Wins Title Following Vigorous Debate with Top Secondary School Presenters

 Adrianne Thomas of Elmore Stoutt High School has been crowned the 2024 British Virgin Islands Junior Ambassador of Tourism. Thomas secured this prestigious title after a spirited and poised performance during the annual speech competition held at UP’s Cineplex on Wednesday, June 5th.

Organized by the Training Unit of the Product Department of the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board & Film Commission (BVITBFC) in collaboration with secondary schools across the territory, this competition saw eight talented competitors vying for the top spot. The winner, Adrianne Thomas, will now represent the British Virgin Islands at the Annual Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Regional Tourism Youth Congress in the Cayman Islands from September 4th to 6th, 2024.

In addition to representing the Territory at the regional competition, Adrianne will receive a one-month internship at BVITBFC, a $1,000 cash prize, a one-year tenure as CCT Brand Ambassador, and a laptop. Carey-Ann McKie from the Bregado Flax Educational Centre Secondary Division earned the first runner-up position, while Soccoria Telseford from BVI Seventh-day Adventist School secured third place.

Other participants in the competition included: Annabelle Maina, Cedar International School, A’Nia Turnbull, Ciboney Centre for Excellence, Asaud Smith, Claudia Creque Educational Centre, De-Andra Sylvera, St. George’s Secondary School and Brenique Deane, Virgin Islands School of Technical Studies.

Prizes awarded to participants included iPads, other electronic gifts, and gift certificates for an ATV excursion on Jost Van Dyke.

Naomi Onwufuju, last year’s winner who went on to triumph at the regional competition, was present to speak to the competitors and assist with prize-giving. Other notable speakers at the event included Hon. Luce Hodge-Smith, Junior Minister for Tourism; Clive McCoy, Director of Tourism; and Vionie Pickering, Product Director at BVITBFC. The event was coordinated by Mrs. Natalie Penn-Lake, Standards and Training Manager at BVITBFC, with Sophia Rubaine, Events Coordinator at BVITBFC, serving as the competition’s host.

"I was highly impressed with the level of oral and visual presentations by the debaters throughout the competition. Their youthful perspectives and innovative ideas were truly noteworthy,” said Director of Tourism Clive McCoy. “All participants performed exceptionally well and made their respective schools proud. This competition is one of the many initiatives we undertake to engage our youth in the tourism industry,” he added.

Participants selected from four tourism topics provided by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and had 3 minutes to present their chosen topic, followed by 7 minutes to prepare and 1 minute to present a mystery question.

This year’s competition was proudly sponsored by Maria’s by the Sea Hotel, Infinite Solutions, National Bank of the Virgin Islands, CCT, Omar’s Fusion, SAID, Mobihub, Salt Life Adventure Sports, and BVITBFC.