On Wednesday, November 23^rd, the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board travelled to the twin islands of North Caicos and Middle Caicos to visit the Charles Hubert James Primary School, the Adelaide Oemler Primary School, and the Raymond Gardiner High School in North Caicos, as well as the Doris Robinson Primary School in Middle Caicos.

This trip completed the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board’s school visits, which is a significant component of their Tourism Environmental Awareness Month (TEAM) initiatives. The school visits began on Tuesday, November 10 with the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board travelling to South Caicos to visit the students of Calvary Christian School, Iris Stubbs Primary School, and Marjorie Basden High School. This was followed by visits to Clement Howell High School, Louise Garland Thomas High School, Enid Capron Primary School, and Wesley Methodist High School on the 14^th, 21^st & 22^nd, respectively. “It was an extremely fulfilling experience travelling across the Turks and Caicos Islands to speak with our youth about the tourism and hospitality industry”, said TCI Tourist Board’s Training Manager and Coordinator of TEAM, Blythe Clare. “As an educator, I take great pride in teaching the future of our country. The more they know, the more they can grow”, added Clare.

Students from across the Turks and Caicos Islands made the most of these visits and displayed their interest in the tourism and hospitality industry through their attentiveness as well as their asking and answering of questions. They also reaffirmed their commitment to TEAM’s 2022 theme – ‘rediscovering the Turks and Caicos Islands’.

“Our team is a diverse group of individuals with various interests and passions, who are all connected by the tourism and hospitality industry – and the intention behind our school visits is to provide students with greater insights into the vast opportunities in the tourism and hospitality industry”, stated Acting Director of Tourism, Mary Lightbourne. “By having our whole team speak with students, we seek to showcase the multitude of ways individuals can build a career in the Turks and Caicos Islands’ most important industry.

Alongside school visits, the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board also displayed its commitment to investing in tourism education through hosting a Tourism and Hospitality Career Fair at the Yellowman and Sons Auditorium in Grand Turk on Friday, November 18^th, as well as by concluding TEAM on Tuesday, November 29^th with an Open House at the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College (TCICC), in collaboration with the TCICC’s tourism students.