The Tourism Enhancement Fund, the philanthropic arm of the St Lucia Hotel & Tourism Association donated close to $30,000 this week for programs directed at youth development.
The Tourism Enhancement Fund made a donation of $26,050 to the Cultural Development Foundation in support of their music education program. Over the years, the Cultural Development Foundation (CDF) has engaged a number of Steel Pan orchestras in training programs in Music Theory and Musical Arrangement. This donation with teach 40 young people Music Theory I and II and help train 25 aspiring pan tuners the art of Pan Building and Tuning.
The Fund also made a donation to Cocktails and Contacts, an event birthed by Shernell Lionel in 2014 that provides young professionals the apt environment to network with each other in an effort to seek out opportunities to grow their businesses. A donation of $5,000 was made to a planned seminar to be hosted by Cocktails & Contacts titled; “Five Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know.” Some key topics will include; how to make tax less taxing, technological innovation, positioning your
business for great investment, networking the key success and maintaining competitive advantage. The seminar, commencing in early 2016, will seek to highlight key areas which are essential to the success of every entrepreneur and to facilitate an environment within which various options are available to entrepreneurs to aid them fill any gaps identified.
The Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) is a private sector initiative established in 2013, it is designed to allow the Tourism industry a greater opportunity to play an integral role in the sustainable development of our destination and people. The TEF is financed by a small, voluntary donation from member hotel guests’ of $2 USD per night, and goes towards community development and environmental projects and actions. Both of these programs reflect some of the core tenets of the Tourism Enhancement Fund as it continues to support Human Resource Development at all levels of society.