JAMAICA: UCC Students In France For International Tourism Competition

UCC BONNE CHANCE 2 University College of the Caribbean President Troy McGrath gives advice to hospitality and management students Rowena Jones (left) and Janielle Lyne (second left), and lecturer Johnnel Smith, Thursday, prior to the students’ departure for Nice, France to participate in the 2015 Global Travel and Tourism Partnership Competition.

UNIVERSITY College of the Caribbean (UCC) tourism and hospitality management students Janielle Lyn and Rowena Jones departed the island last Thursday for France to participate in the 2015 Global Travel and Tourism Partnership Competition.

Lyn and Jones are the only two representatives from the English-speaking Caribbean to attend the event, having won the Jamaican leg of the competition.

The students will present on an off-the-beaten track activity, 'Paragliding in Jamaica', at the international conference being held in Nice, the capital of the Alpes Maritimes département.

Vice-president of academic affairs at UCC, Dr Paul Thompson, said the university is quite pleased at the students' selection to participate in the event.

"Their selection speaks to the depth, rigour and quality of the institution's programme and to the level of leadership that facilitated the students' participation at the competition," Dr Thompson said/

"At UCC, we are not only focused on preparing students to attain their qualifications, but we are also focused on providing our students with international exposure and getting them used to international bench marks. In this way, they are prepared and ready to serve both in Jamaica and elsewhere," Dr Thompson added.

Asked how she felt about travelling to France in light of the recent terrorist attacks on Paris, Jones said that she was focused on the challenge and that her preparations had been going well.

She admitted that she had never felt so adventurous and had tried paragliding for the first time to put her in a better position to speak about the product.

In Lyn's case, her preparations were more land-based and focused on sharpening her presentation skills to ensure that her "delivery was on point".

The two, who described their participation in the competition as "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity", said they were overwhelmed, but excited at representing UCC and Jamaica at this level. They believe that this initiative will provide others with an opportunity to associate the island with an activity that is outside of the norm, and increase the visibility of the existing paragliding businesses on the island.