NEWS FROM OAS & YABT

YABT Provides Rural Tourism Training Opportunity for 25 Youth in Suriname

PARAMARIBO – Twenty-five young entrepreneurs benefitted from a Rural Tourism Business Laboratory hosted by the Young Americas Business Trust in Paramaribo, Suriname, on December 6-10. The Lab aimed to provide young entrepreneurs with the fundamental knowledge and skills needed to start their own businesses, specifically focusing on opportunities in rural and community tourism. The Lab was facilitated by Dr. Hezi Yisraeli and Mr. Ilan Ben-Josef, two Israeli tourism experts who were made available through the cooperation between YABT, the Government of Israel and the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center. Among the many topics that were explored in the five-day training were: tourism as a tool for rural development, global tourism trends, supply and demand in the Suriname tourism market, feasibility studies, operation and management of tourism enterprises, business planning and marketing and branding. As part of the hands on training experience, participants visited existing rural tourism sites, including Colakreek and Het Sprookjes Bos (Fairytale Forest). The diverse groups of participants, some of whom have already established tourism-related enterprises, were encouraged to take advantage of the country's natural resources and the surroundings of their communities to identify and develop employment-generating opportunities. As a result of the Laboratory, participants were able to outline business plans for tourism related ventures they intend to pursue in their communities. Additionally, a network was set up among the participants to enable access to resources and services and to continue the exchange of ideas and experiences. YABT will follow-up with the entrepreneurs to provide support as they continue to improve their business plans and prepare for the start-up phase of their proposed ventures. Considerable support for the workshop was provided by several Surinamese partners, among them the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the YoungBiz Education and Development Organization, the Women's Business Group Foundation and the Cultural Center of Suriname. The Business Labs program utilizes a highly interactive, learning-by-doing methodology to introduce participants to entrepreneurship and guide them from the idea generation phase to start-up. For more information, please contact: Brett Lashley YABT Program Manager for the Caribbean blashley@oas.org T. (202) 458-6456. for HUIRSE DANIELA BELEN HUIRSE BELLINA JORGE ALBERTO DIRECTORES IBEROAMERICAN PRESS You can translate this New in several languajes