Nine-y-o is Condé Nast essay winner

Nine-year-old Joseph Archibald-Bowers (centre), winner of the Conde Nast Travel 'My Caribbean' contest, poses with officials during an awards ceremony in Freeport, Grand Bahama, last Tuesday.

In an award ceremony last Tuesday at the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Conference in Grand Bahama Island, Klara Glowczewska, Editor-in-chief of Condé Nast Traveler, announced that nine-year-old Joseph Archibald-Bowers of British Virgin Islands was the winner of the the Condé Nast Traveler 'My Caribbean' Essay Contest. Glowczewska also announced the two runners-up: Jasherel Wielzen of Suriname and Joshua Tuson of Grenada. This contest, now in its 14th year, is the first of its kind for Caribbean school children, and has become a symbol of Condé Nast Traveler's commitment to the development of the Caribbean.

US$2,000 scholarship

Grand prize-winner Archibald-Bowers received a US$2,000 scholarship and the two runners-up each received a $500 scholarship. Archibald-Bowers' winning essay will also be featured in the January 2007 issue of Condé Nast Traveler.

Given the topic: "Imagine that you are a travel journalist and you have been assigned to write a story about your country for Condé Nast Traveler. Remember that our editorial mission is truth in travel, and we like to go beneath the surface to show people more than just the usual tourist spots," Archibald-Bowers wrote:

"We shall begin with a hot spot for food. Midtown Restaurant in the middle of Road Town is the best place for a juicy hamburger with everything on it with a big plate of French fries. I know you've had hamburgers where you've come from, but I'm telling you, Gloria, the owner, has a secret ingredient that gives her hamburgers a Tortolan twist. You can enjoy your hamburgers with a refreshing drink of tamarind, soursop, guava, or passion fruit juice, all freshly-made local drinks."

annual contest

This annual contest is part of a tourism awareness programme for school children between the ages of eight and 12. Each of the 26 finalists attending the Caribbean Tourism Conference received an eye-opening experience into the world of tourism. The contest, sponsored by Condé Nast Traveler, the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, American Airlines, Pelican Bay Hotel, UNEXSO Grand Bahama, and the Grand Bahama ISLAND magazine, educates elementary school children in the Caribbean about the importance of tourism to their country. Grade school children of the 32 CTO member countries were asked to submit a 250-word essay on the topic referenced above.

This year's 26 finalists represented the countries of: Anguilla, Vince Webster, Aruba, Belinda Ho, the Bahamas, Shanté Swan, Barbados, Ashley Harris, Belize, Vivian Courtenay, Bermuda, Sarah Hopkin, Cayman Islands, Ashley Amador, Dominica, Jawole Mandisa Joseph, Dominican Republic, Virginia Nœ-ez Mir, Grenada, Joshua Tuson, Guyana, Sidonia Peters, Haiti, Christina Melodie Beauboeuf, Jamaica, Renee Duhaney, Martinique, Daphne Xavier Maximin-Anne, Montserrat, Tiffannie Skerritt Nevis, Austine Liburd St. Eustatius, Reinalda Fleming, St. Kitts, Renicia McDonald, St. Lucia, Nadege Boriel, St. Maarten, Alexandria Stanford St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Yahtibah Speedwell, Suriname, Jasherel Wielzen, Trinidad & Tobago, Kyle Ramdeo, Turks & Caicos, Crivanne Adams, U.S. Virgin Islands, Tequan Cruse.