The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Education Foundation (CHTAEF) is awarding more than $130,000 worth of scholarships to nearly three dozen Caribbean students this year. Including the renewal of 12 scholarships awarded to students last year, this academic year will record a total of 34 scholarships funded by the nonprofit group. Seventy people applied this year and scholarships range, on average, from US$2,000 to $5,000 and are exclusively for tuition costs. Universities such as Johnson & Wales provides matching grants for CHTAEF recipients effectively doubling the scholarship awards.
The Association set up the Foundation in 1986 to support programs for the development and improvement of education and training in the tourism and hotel sector in the Caribbean. Scholarships are available to Caribbean students and industry professionals pursuing higher education or professional development in the hospitality and tourism field and are awarded with support from CHTAEF sponsors and supporters.
CHTAEF Chairman Richard Kahn thanked the numerous hotels and resorts for their support of the foundation, but highlighted corporate partners Interval International and Virgin Holidays for their generous funding of Caribbean education. “The hotel stays we receive from our CHTA members provide the value we use for the New York Times Travel Show Auction which this year produced more than $106,000 in revenue for the Foundation,” he said, adding:”We couldn’t provide these scholarships without those funds.”
“Seeing these scholarships awarded to our talented Caribbean nationals is one of my most pleasurable duties,” enthused Karolin Troubetzkoy, CHTA President. “There is no better investment we can make than banking on our splendid young people and industry professionals who will transform our sector with their dynamism, enthusiasm and intellectual rigor,” she stated.
2017 winners include Cenita Liddie from Anguilla; Kia Harrigan from Antigua; Aruba’s Marc Anthony Ranis; and Forjee Jackson, Gabrielle Josey, Donovan Moss, Dwayne Sinclair, Antanae Taylor and Kenria Taylor from the Bahamas. Additional scholars are Roberta Alleyne, Makayla Bennett and Christine Gibson from Barbados; Kendra Gajadhar from Guyana; Jamaica’s Dominique Haughton and Brianna Jureidini; and St. Lucians Carleen Isidore, Stacy Lamontagne, Astrid Lindberg and Geni St. Paul. St. Maarten’s Nathalie Boston; Trinidad and Tobago’s Duncan Dwayne; and Jecoix Gittens of the U.S. Virgin Islands were also in winners’ row.