BARBADOS (May 10, 2008) – High airfares are grounding the development of future air travelers, asserts a young travel expert.
A former Junior Minister of tourism from the
Javon Griffith, designated Junior Minister of Tourism of Barbados in 2004-2005, said the cost of travel is spiraling out of control and gone are the days when a round-trip between
“They need to understand that without the contribution of tourism to the
Griffith, who works as a part-time server at the Fish Pot Restaurant in
“Our young people need to understand the value of being employed in the sector – they should feel proud to know that they are making a contribution to the development of their country,” he said.A member of the Barbados Environmental Youth Programme, Griffith will attend next week’s Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx) in San Juan, Puerto Rico (May 15 to 19, 2008) along with a number of youth delegates from across the Caribbean and North America.
“CMEx will help us understand tourism’s various impacts on the socio-cultural, environmental and economic spheres of the areas where it is developed. It will match the principles of sustainable tourism to the every day practices and act as a mouthpiece as well as an engine towards making tourism more sustainable in the
At CMEx in
The upcoming CMEx meeting, produced by Counterpart International and hosted by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, is supported by Almond Resorts, American Eagle/Executive Airlines, Association of Caribbean Media Workers, The Barbara Pyle Foundation, Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Bay Gardens Resorts, Bermuda Department of Tourism, Black Entertainment Television (BET J), Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Tourism Development Company (CTDC), Caribbean World News Network, Choice Hotels International, Coco Resorts, Counterpart Caribbean, Harry Edwards Jewellers, Jamaica Tourist Board, La Concha – A Renaissance Resort, Mayberry Investments Ltd., Ruder Finn, SpeakEasy M.E.D.I.A., Spirit Airlines, Tourism Development Company Limited of Trinidad and Tobago, and the St. Lucia Tourist Board.