Meet the Caribbean’s Newest Junior Tourism Minister

A 15-year-old from Anguilla beat 17 regional rivals in Georgetown. His win says as much about the industry’s talent pipeline as it does about one small island. Ask most travelers to find Anguilla on a map and you may get a hesitant pause. Amarni Webster, 15, is counting on that. Webster is a student at Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School. On October 8 he won the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s 2026 Regional Tourism Youth Congress in Georgetown, Guyana, finishing first among 18 young delegates. The title makes him the Caribbean’s Regional Junior Minister of Tourism. By his own account, his first thought was less about the trophy than about the questions it might raise back home and abroad.

“Where is Anguilla? What is Anguilla?” he imagined people asking. “I see this as an opportunity to bring in more tourists, but also to get my island’s name more out there.”

That instinct is a small lesson in destination marketing. The Caribbean’s tourism conversation is often dominated by its largest names, and a teenager from a small island has just given Anguilla a reason to be talked about at regional level.

What the Youth Congress Is, and Why It Matters

The Regional Tourism Youth Congress is a CTO initiative held each year alongside the State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC). It involves students aged 14 to 17 from member countries. Each arrives as a national Junior Minister of Tourism, usually after winning a local competition. The CTO describes the format as mirroring a board of directors’ meeting, and it isn’t a conventional debating contest.

Webster’s path followed that model. Anguilla’s national congress drew five students, and he was named winner. Another student, Reanne Richardson, was named alternate. Both joined the island’s delegation to Guyana for SOTIC, which ran October 5–9.

This year’s edition carried extra symbolism. SOTIC was staged in Guyana for the first time, under the theme “One Caribbean: Infinite Experiences.” The youth congress had its own theme, “Caribbean Tourism Through the Eyes of Tomorrow.”

Webster’s winning presentation centered on nurturing young talent, building skills and creating pathways to meaningful employment in tourism.

Why Workforce Matters to the Visitor Experience

Skills and career pathways may sound like an industry-insider topic. They are not, because the visitor experience rests on people. The warmth of a front-desk welcome, a guide’s local knowledge and the polish of a restaurant team all depend on a workforce that sees tourism as a career rather than a stopgap.

Webster’s argument is that training, mentorship and meaningful employment can help students see a future in the industry within their own communities. That is a pressing question across the region, where tourism is a major employer and island economies are small.

A forum like the congress gives young people direct contact with regional leaders. Its lasting value, though, will depend on what comes next: how the ideas are taken up and whether the connections made open doors beyond the competition.

A Teenager With an Athlete’s Mindset

Webster isn’t a typical conference delegate. He runs track, plays football and has represented Anguilla at the youth level in international football. He credits sport with teaching him to trust his preparation, and he applies that to public speaking by focusing on expressing his ideas clearly.

“I am very confident, but I don’t want people to mistake it for arrogance,” he said.

His mother couldn’t attend, but her messages kept him going. “She may not be here for everything, but I will always feel her love and support wherever she is in the world,” he recalled her telling him. His father wrote about the happiness of having him as a son. Anguillans also cheered him on through social media.

Anguilla’s Minister of Health, Tourism and Sports, Hon Cardigan Connor, said he had come to know Webster well over the previous six months. He credited the team behind the teenager but stressed that the delivery was Webster’s own. “At 15, that is just a number,” Connor said. “His maturity is much more than 15.”

Connor, a former English county cricketer who played 15 seasons with Hampshire from 1984 to 1998, also reminded Webster of the weight of the title. “You are not just representing Anguilla now,” he said. “You are representing the Caribbean.”

Mentorship From Carnival Corporation

The prize goes beyond the title. As lead sponsor of the congress, Carnival Corporation will provide Webster with a mentorship team as he pursues his interest in tourism and hospitality.

Webster is open about his ambitions. “My career goal is just to continue to grow into tourism and hospitality, because this is just a stepping stone until I get where I want to get in the future,” he said. Asked about his long-term goals, he said he wants to keep growing without setting an end point.

Pairing a young islander with a major cruise operator’s team is a notable arrangement. Cruising is a large part of Caribbean tourism, and mentorship from inside a global operator could give a future hospitality leader a view of the industry few teenagers get.

The Rest of the Podium

Other young regional voices were recognized too:

• Raia Cargill of Sunland Baptist Academy in The Bahamas placed second. She will serve as junior CTO secretary-general, with mentorship from CTO Secretary-General and CEO Dona Regis-Prosper.
• Jahneil McKenzie of Daryll Jordan Secondary School in Barbados finished third.
• Janica Adams of the Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies received a special mention.

Nicolas Scott, Programme Coordinator in the CTO’s Department of Resource Mobilization and Development, helped coordinate the gathering. The award was presented by Regis-Prosper, with Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Tourism and newly elected CTO Chair Charles “Max” Fernandez among those present.

Sport, Tourism and Anguilla’s Next Big Date

Webster’s love of sport lines up with a milestone on Anguilla’s calendar. The island will host the CTO’s inaugural Sports Tourism Summit from August 12–14, 2027. It will bring together tourism and sports officials, athletes, event organizers and other partners to explore how sport can attract visitors and create economic opportunities across the Caribbean.

What Travelers Should Take From This

For travelers, the story is a reminder that Caribbean destinations are shaped by the people who live in them. Anguilla is often known for quiet beaches and a refined, low-key atmosphere, and it competes for attention with more heavily marketed neighbors. A confident young ambassador who wants visitors to ask “What is Anguilla?” is a useful asset.

It also points to a quieter trend. Destinations that invest in young talent early are betting that service quality and authentic hospitality will be their long-term edge. Natural beauty is shared across the region. A well-trained, motivated workforce is harder to copy.

Webster arrived in Guyana determined to make his family and island proud. He left with a regional title, a mentorship package and a wider stage on which to tell Anguilla’s story.

The year ahead will test how far that platform can go. If the mentorship delivers, the Sports Tourism Summit draws strong interest in 2027, and young delegates’ ideas find a place in regional planning, this 15-year-old’s win could be remembered as more than a headline. For now, it has at least ensured that more people are asking where Anguilla is.

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