A delegation of College of The Bahamas (COB) students will compete at the 2016 Caribbean Students Colloquium a forum designed to engage the future leaders of the Caribbean in tourism-related activities.

COB is one of four teams consisting of college and university students that will compete at the academic conference during Caribbean Week in New York, June 1-4; the team which consists of two former junior ministers of tourism and other COB students -- Travis Robinson, Kendall Sands, Iant'a Stubbs and Keri Cartwright, will be sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism.

Junior Minister of Tourism Gabriele Josephs will travel with the team.

The Students Colloquium began in 2011 and since then has been inviting students from various colleges and universities across the Caribbean and the United States to be involved in the implementation of sustainable initiatives.

Teams are required to register one team of up to four students, indicate its intention to compete and submit a business plan to contend for participation in the seminar. Team Bahamas was successful in its bid and was invited to present in New York and compete against other finalists. Professor Ruth Gardiner will lead the team along with two coaches from the Ministry of Tourism, Ian Ferguson and Samantha Cartwright.

Each team will present on one of the following topics -- a healthy demand for intimate lodging, generating significant business with intra-Caribbean travel and "staycations" or agri-tourism and rural communities in the Caribbean.

Cartwright, senior executive of tourism cadet/schools unit in the Ministry of Tourism said the team is coming together and will be prepared for the competition.

"We are all in preparation mode and are excited by the way the pieces are coming together.

"We are receiving assistance of our audiovisual and graphics department to get their presentations ready for June 1," she said.

The Bahamas has participated in the Students Colloquium four of the past five years, placing second and third in the competition.

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