Manning’s School Student Wins Junior Tourism Minister Competition

After a closely contested Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) Junior Tourism Minister competition final, yet another Manning’s School student, in Westmoreland, has emerged with the 2024 title.

The annual public-speaking competition is open to students between 15 and 17 years of age, who must be members of their school’s Tourism Action Club (TAC).

Student of the Westmoreland-based school, Taj Melbourne, bested his schoolmate, Hassan Smith, to take the title.

The new Junior Minister is set to represent Jamaica at this year’s Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Regional Youth Congress in the Cayman Islands, in September.

After the finals of the competition, held at Beaches Ocho Rios in Boscobel, St. Mary, on July 23, Young Taj told JIS News that his school’s third win in a row is credited to the institution not just “bringing in kids and sending them out”.

“We work on building a product, and that product is creating excellence through legacy,” he said.

He also credited past winners who were students at Manning’s, Sanecia Taylor and last year’s Junior Minister, Deja Bremmer, for paving the way for the school to do well in the competition.

“I believe also that the support of our administration and the school community has played a part in getting us this far,” Taj said.

Of his win, Taj admits that he did not expect to come out on top, at first.

“At the beginning of everything, I did not have much confidence in winning, but after going through the process, I began to draw confidence from those around me, especially my teammate, and my [TAC] staff advisor [Shalia Lewis] and my mom. They are a real support system,” Taj said.

He suggested that there should be more initiatives like the Junior Tourism Minister competition to engage the island’s youth.

“Especially males like me, we see where we are not thought of as leaders or builders of the industry, but I hope to change that narrative… . Sure, females can do it, but we can also do it,” he said.

Taj also said he intends to represent the island well and network at the upcoming CTO conference.

For her part, young Deja said that she was proud to pass the torch to her schoolmate.

“He emerged victorious, and I can tell that all the practice, all the training, all the support has paid off and I am confident in his abilities that he will represent Jamaica well in the Cayman Islands,” she said.

Deja also encouraged Taj to never stop researching, as the sector is wide, and “you can never know too much about it, so the more he knows, the more knowledge he will have to answer the questions”.

Meanwhile, Ms. Lewis told JIS News that she was “extremely elated” that the Manning’s School notched another win in the competition.

“I am really motivated to continue, maybe next year; who knows, we may have a fourth one (Junior Tourism Minister) from Manning’s. I am just encouraging teachers to love their students and encourage them to have a vision. Feed them with knowledge, feed them with love. We need to do everything we can to make Jamaica a better place,” she said.

She also noted that another secret to the school’s success is to find out what the students’ talents are and hone them.

Ms. Lewis encouraged students across the island to become part of their school’s TAC, as there are several advantages to be derived.

Acting Manager for the Tourism Information Centre at the JTB, Lucretia Green, told JIS News that the TAC in schools is the brainchild of the Tourist Board and is the main channel in which the organisation engages youth.

“We are very proud to have crowned Taj Melbourne as our new Junior Minister of Tourism. We are proud because he is a product of the TAC, which is a brainchild of the JTB, and our idea and our mandate is to engage young Jamaicans to expose them to opportunities to expose them to the industry,” she said.

“When Taj goes to Cayman in a few weeks, we will see his brilliance and his excellence, and we are confident that he is going to do well, not just for himself but for Jamaica, because we are a force to reckon with,” Ms. Green emphasised.

The theme of the competition was ‘Small Jamaicans making a big difference’.