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	ANTIGUA’S’ GABRIELLE MARTIN WINS CONDE NAST TRAVELER ESSAY CONTEST FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMA, (October 30, 2002) – Antigua student Gabrielle Martin has won the 2002 Condé Nast Traveler “My Caribbean Essay Contest.” Editor in Chief Tom Wallace made the announcement on Tuesday October 29, 2002 at an awards presentation at the 25th Annual Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-25). Mr.Wallace, along with Vice President and Publisher Lisa Hughes, also announced that Shiugobin Jaikarran of Guyana and Tianna Charles of the British Virgin Islands were the first and second runners up respectively. Grand Prize Winner Martin received a $2000 scholarship and will be flown to the World Travel Mart in London in November 2002 courtesy of Condé Nast Traveler and American Airlines. Her winning essay will be featured in the November issue of Condé Nast Traveler magazine. The runners up each received a $500 prize and certificate. After a multistep judging process involving ministries of tourism, ministries of education and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, a finalist was chosen from each island. 27 finalists representing almost all of the islands in the Caribbean travelled to CTC-25. Each child and a chaperone flew courtesy of American Airlines to the conference on Grand Bahama Island where they stayed at The Royal Oasis. Once there they participated in a three-day workshop and the awards ceremony, where they were rewarded for their creative work on their essays. For the past ten years Condé Nast Traveler and American Airlines have been sponsoring the “My Caribbean Essay Contest” in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organization. From Anguilla to Venezuela the magazine has been helping to educate children on every island on the importance of tourism in their country. This year, children from CTO member countries were asked to submit a 250-word essay on the topic What Would You Tell A Visitor To See And Do On Your Island? In the winning essay Gabrielle Martin enticed readers with her opening line, “Have you ever experienced pure Paradise?” She then described the different areas that someone would tour while in Antigua; from the market to the historic plantations to the island’s “365 beautiful beaches.” Martin talked of the performers visitors encounter in the marketplace “playing steel drum music so sweet that you won’t ever want to leave.” This essay captured you from the very beginning and left the reader wanting more with a closing that featured a sunset to say good-bye and the line, “My island is a beautiful place filled with adventure, I cannot do it justice with words so you have to experience it for yourself. So come and enjoy your first taste of Paradise.” This year, Condé Nast Traveler also conducted a 10th Anniversary Essay Contest featuring the ten winners from past contests. Christel St. Firmin from Haiti, the 1999 “My Caribbean Essay Contest” winner, was chosen as the winner for the 10th Anniversary Contest and flown to Grand Bahama Island to read her essay titled How Winning The Condé Nast Traveler "My Caribbean Essay Contest" Changed My Life. The theme and rules for the “My Caribbean Essay Contest” were communicated to all CTO members and Ministers of Tourism by the magazine’s publisher. The contest was then administered through the school system on each of the member countries. 27 CTO member states participated with over 1200 essays received. Condé Nast Traveler’s “My Caribbean Essay Contest” event sponsors include American Airlines, Royal Oasis Golf Resort and Casino, UNEXSO, Our Lucaya Beach and Golf Resort, Grand Bahama Island Magazine, The Islands of the Bahamas, and the Port Lucaya Marketplace. Condé Nast Traveler is the world’s leading travel magazine, published in New York City. Condé Nast Traveler stands for “Truth in Travel” Unlike many other travel publications, Condé Nast Traveler does not accept free travel and accommodations, and its correspondents, as far as possible, travel anonymously. The result is travel the way consumers experience it, good and bad, with reporting that is fair and honest. Condé Nast Traveler is the only travel publication to have won a National Magazine Award, the highest honor in magazine publishing. Condé Nast Traveler has a circulation of over 750,000 and is published by the Condé Nast Publications, Inc. About The Caribbean Tourism Organization The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), with headquarters in Barbados and marketing operations in New York, London and Toronto, is the Caribbean's tourism development agency and comprises membership of 32 governments and a myriad of private sector companies. The CTO's mission is to provide to and through its members, the services and information needed for the development of sustainable tourism for the economic and social benefit of the Caribbean people. The organization provides specialized support and technical assistance to member countries in the areas of marketing, human resource development, research and statistics and sustainable development. The CTO disseminates information on behalf of its member governments to consumers and the travel trade. For more information, please contact CTO Headquarters at One Financial Place, Collymore Rock, St. Michael, Barbados; tel: (246) 427-5242; fax: (246) 429-3065; E-mail: ctobar@caribsurf.com. CTO's New York office is located at 80 Broad Street, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10004, USA; tel: (212) 635-9530; fax: (212) 635-9511; E-mail: get2cto@dorsai.org. CTO's London office is located at 42 Westminster Palace Gardens, Artillery Row, London SW1P 1RR; tel: 171-222-4335; fax 171-222-4325; E-mail: cto@carib-tourism.com. CTO Canada can be reached at Taurus House, 512 Duplex Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4R 2E3; tel: (416) 485-8724; fax: (416) 485-8256; E-mail assoc@thermrgroup.ca. Visit CTO on the web at www.doitcaribbean.com and www.onecaribbean.org. Listed alphabetically by country, the finalists were: Anguilla Regina Niles Bahamas Kendrea Jones Barbados Christian Niles Belize Ellie Thompson Bermuda Keishon Ming Cayman Islands Janelle Tibbetts Curacao Chandini Chandiramani Dominica Vernandra Christian Grenada Kizzy Rennie Guadeloupe Natacha Pignac Haiti Christian Lemaine Jamaica Mario Williams Montserrat Opal Skerritt Nevis Lathania Nisbett St. Eustatius Shankita Gibbs St. Kitts Bereece Williams St. Lucia Shantelle Polius St. Maarten Charity Sam St. Martin Osouf Erwan St. Vincent Kimroy Walters Suriname Jayanto Gangapersad Trinidad & Tobago Insaf Hosein Turks & Caicos Candia Ewing USVI Janeale Gottlieb The essay: Antigua Gabrielle Martin Have you ever experienced pure paradise? Have you ever inhaled air that was so fresh that it captivated your soul? Have you ever experienced breeze blowing across your face that makes you feel free and wild? Well, come tourist, come. Let me take you on a journey through paradise. Our journey will begin in St. John’s, the capital of this paradise. First we will browse Heritage Quay where you will find lots of friendly people selling interesting souvenirs that depict our island life. You will also notice entertainers portraying our culture through dance, song, and steel pan music. The music is sweet, so sweet that I know you won’t want to leave, but it is now time to go the market. There you will find all sorts of interesting vegetables and fruits. One bite of our local dishes will leave you tantalized for days. We are now on our way to English Harbour. Keep your eyes open as we pass through the different villages so you can see the joys of the people and the beauty of this paradise. When we reach the beginning of English Harbour it will be time to come out of the vehicle because it would be time to travel using good old island transportation. It’s going to be time to travel donkey style. This friendly animal will take us to Nelson Dockyard. Imagine the adventure that you will encounter as we relive the tale of soldiers pass as we pass Fort Burkley. Cannons firing, guns shooting, as the soldiers tried to protect this paradise from being invaded. Up and up we go to Shirley’s Heights, another wonderful historical site. Guess what, you will be in luck because it will be Sunday, festival day at Shirley’s Heights. You will then get to enjoy more of our local dishes and enjoy more of our local entertainment. On Monday, we will go to Betty’s Hope. As we stroll Betty’s Hope, you will see a whole sugar plantation unfold before your very eyes as we travel back in history to the days of sugar production. Look at the twin windmills, these are what we used to grind the sugar and the fields of canes. Can you imagine that they are still here today? Well, in this paradise, everything is preserved so that we never forget our history. Onwards to Devil’s Bridge we will go. Look at the waves as they crash against the rocks. It’s not only beautiful, but it is also exciting. You can’t go in, but you can go to one of our three hundred sixty five beautiful beaches. Fort James is nice, but you can also get to visit another one of the forts which is where they used to protect the island from invasion. As the sun says goodbye, we will sit on the shore and enjoy the beauty. My island is a beautiful place filled with adventure. I cannot do it justice by words, so you have to experience it for yourself. So come tourist and enjoy your first taste of paradise.