LIAT-sponsored workshop for journalists opens in Tortola

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, July 12, 2011 – Eleven journalists from within the LIAT network will benefit from training at a one-week workshop which opened in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, on Monday July 11.

The workshop, sponsored by LIAT, the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board is being held at the Treasure Isle Hotel. It is the first of two such workshops planned by LIAT and the CTO for this summer.

In his address at the opening ceremony, Corporate Communications Manager Desmond Brown said LIAT was supporting the workshop from at least two perspectives.

Firstly, he said LIAT considers the BVI a very important destination and wanted to create even more awareness about the destination in the other countries in its network.

“We also view it as part of our social responsibility. While LIAT is a corporate entity, it is also a social partner and we are very pleased to provide this aspect of human resource development for this group of Caribbean media professionals,” Brown said.

The 11 journalists are from Radio Anguilla; Crusader Radio in Antigua; Starcom Network and What’s Up Caribbean in Barbados; the BVI Beacon Newspaper and Virgin Islands News Online in the British Virgin Islands; Kairi FM and the Chronicle Newspaper in Dominica; the Grenada Broadcasting Network; SVG Broadcasting in St. Vincent; and CL Communications in Trinidad.

Veteran Caribbean Journalist and Communications Officer at the CTO Johnson JohnRose is the workshop’s facilitator.

In 2009 LIAT, through its Corporate Communications Department, began a strategic relationship with the CTO to provide training for media practitioners in the Caribbean. That year, two workshops were conducted in Curacao during which 15 journalists from nine countries in the LIAT network were trained. In 2010 one workshop which benefitted 12 journalists was held in St. Maarten.