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Southern Africa youth in tourism essay competition 2013

by Rejoice Chishamba (RETOSA)
17 Dec 2013 at 03:59hrs | Views
THE REGIONAL TOURISM ORGANISATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA fRETOSA, SUCCESSFULLY HOLDS INAGURAL YOUTH IN TOURISM ESSAY COMPETITION 2013 AND ELECTS JUNIOR TOURISM MINISTERS.

The inaugural Youth in Tourism Essay Competition was held on Friday 6 December 2013 on a boat cruise in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

The Youth in Tourism Essay Competition has been running from August and the deadline for submission was 30 November 2013. The Youth in Tourism Essay Competition was a side event to the Southern Africa Research Planners Conference at Seaside Hotel in Swakopmund, Namibia.

Participants of the essay competition were drawn from the Fifteen SADC countries namely Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Out of the 15 countries, six students qualified for the finals and these were:
Kefiloe Motjetje aged 13 from Lesotho

Tsholofelo Tsheto aged 12 from Botswana

William T. Zenda aged 12 from Zimbabwe

The above qualified in level 1 (primary schools) and the topic for the essay was" Why tourist attractions in my country are the best in the worid'"

Finalists for Category 2 were:

lyanvwa Kankinda aged 12 from Zambia Taloshili Oiavi Hangula aged 15 from Namibia Mbako Muzila aged 14 from Botswana
The above qualified in level 2 (secondary schools) and the topic for the essay was "What my government should do to turn my country into the best green tourism destination in the world".

The 6 SADC regional finalists each made an oral presentation of their essays before a panel of judges. Taloshili Oiavi Hangula, a grade 10 student at Windhoek Gymnasium Private School was elected Southern Africa Junior Tourism Minister and he will be deputised by Tsholofelo Tsheto, a grade 7 pupil at Mpani/ Magapatona Primary School. Their term of office will run until the next Youth in Tourism Essay Competition and elections for the new office bearers for 2015. The Junior Tourism Minister won a lap top while the Deputy from primary school level won a Tablet. The other four participants got cellphones and the prizes were sponsored by e Kwela Fleet Management.

The theme of the essay competition for 2013 was "Turning Southern Africa into A Competitive Green Tourism Destination".

RETOSA encourages every school child in SADC region to participate in the essay competition which will be held annually. RETOSA feels that engaging school children in such competitions is the easiest way to enrich the scholars' knowledge on tourism.

In conclusion, RETOSA highly appreciates the Japanese International Cooperating Agency (JICA) for sponsoring accommodation and air tickets for all the essay participants from their various destinations to Namibia and back to their countries.

Download: SOUTHERN AFRICA YOUTH IN TOURISM ESSAY COMPETITION 2013

Source - Rejoice Chishamba (RETOSA)