Registration starts for CTO tourism scholarships and grants

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PHILIPSBURG —Persons on St. Maarten with a passion for Tourism who wish to pursue a career in one of the largest industries globally can now apply for grants from the Caribbean Tourism Office (CTO).

The grant offer is made available to St. Maarten residents by the CTO through the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB), a longstanding member of CTO. Considering St. Maarten’s recent devastation by hurricanes in 2017 and the Government of St. Maarten’s ongoing efforts to rebuild, there is clearly a need for more professional to enter the industry.

Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunication the Honourable Stuart Johnson said Monday “the key to sustainably rebuilding St. Maarten’s tourism and economy, is through investments in its people and creating opportunities for them to gain the knowledge necessary to become leaders and innovators and major contributors to our industry.”

He said the CTO’s Scholarship grant is an excellent opportunity for St Maarten Caribbean nationals who would like to pursue higher education and careers in the tourism industry.

The Grant provides opportunities for Caribbean nationals to pursue studies in the areas of tourism, hospitality and language training.

Johnson said, “As we continue to rebuild our destination sustainably, I encourage those interested in a career in the hospitality or service industry to make use of this opportunity and apply.” He said this allows every individual to be on the right side of history once the dust on the redevelopment of St. Maarten is settled. Johnson said, “You would be able to say that you took the initiative to gain an education in a field that allowed you to contribute positively to the rebuilding of our tourism and boost services and hospitality to our visitors.”

The CTO Foundation selects individuals who demonstrate high levels of achievement and leadership both within and outside the classroom and who express a keen interest in making a positive contribution to Caribbean tourism.

The programmes comprise tourism education or human resources development. It includes tourism research or statistics, hotel, resort, or villa development, design and/or planning, aviation or air transport technologies, agriculture, fisheries and horticulture. Other areas of the programme are event management, interior design, medical tourism, architecture, sports, culture and heritage along with environmental protection and preservation.

The deadline for submitting entries is Friday, 19 April at 11.59 p.m. Pacific Time.

Late applications will not be accepted. All applications must be submitted online and will not be received via mail, email or fax. For information or to apply, please visit, https://ctoscholarships2019.pgtb.me/VQFjkj. Scholarship winners will be announced on Sunday, June 30, 2019.

The scholarships offered by the CTO are the Arley Sobers Memorial Scholarship (US$5,000); Audrey Palmer Hawks Memorial Scholarship (US$5,000); Bonita Morgan Memorial Scholarship (US$5,000); CTO Foundation/Zelman Style Interiors Scholarship (US$5,000); CTO Scholarship Foundation/Delta Airlines Scholarship (US$5,000); CTO Scholarship Foundation First Degree Scholarship (US$5,000); Master’s Degree Scholarship (US$5,000); Study Grant (US$2,500).