Belize represented at Regional Tourism Essay Contest

Ms. Tatiana Habet, a student of Belize Elementary School in Belize City was Belize's finalist in the Sixteenth Annual Condé Nast Traveler — "My Caribbean Essay Contest." The contest is designed to introduce the economic benefits of tourism to children of the Caribbean.

The essay contest sponsored by Condé Nast Traveler, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and American Airlines with the cooperation of the Ministries of Tourism and Education throughout the Caribbean, encourages primary school children to participate in the annual event by writing and submitting a 250-word essay under the theme: "If you could share a secret about your island with someone visiting for the first time, what would it be?" The entrants were asked to choose a quality that represents the "spirit" of their homeland they would wish to preserve or improve upon in the next millennium.

Belize was amongst the twenty-seven islands/nations that participated in the contest. After a multi-step judging process involving the ministries of tourism, the ministries of education and CTO, a finalist was chosen from each island/nation. Ms. Habet's was chosen as a finalist from amongst 1,000 submissions.

Each finalist and a chaperone were then flown to the CTO conference held in Trinidad courtesy of Condé Nast.

At the conference, the grand-prize winner was required to read her essay, which will be published and reprinted in Condé Nast Traveler magazine. The grand-prize winner received a US $2,000.00 scholarship and a special certificate of recognition. The two runners-up each received a US $500 scholarship.

Condé Nast is a well-known upscale travel magazine with a circulation of 750,000 that caters to the seasoned and frequent traveler.