 Welcome to the NTN Nightly, I'm Nisha Charles. This edition stops stories. The linkages between the tourism sector and culture have been made evident through soaring arrival figures. The Government of St Lucia moves towards a national spatial data infrastructure. There's the Arthur Lewis Community College and the University of the Virgin Islands, Science and MOU. All that plus the latest in youth development, sports and the NTN Nouvelle Arquéon. The linkages between the tourism sector and culture have been made evident following the success of St Lucia's Carnival between the months of June to July. Minister for Tourism, Information, Broadcasting, Culture and Creative Industries, Honourable Dominic Fede spoke to the issue during Tuesday's sitting of Parliament. General Nouvelle reports. St Lucia remains one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the eastern Caribbean. From January to July 2019, tourist arrivals have grown by 7.5%. July 2019, when compared to July 2018, recorded an increase of 13% in tourist arrivals. Arrivals from the US market for July 2019 recorded a 23% increase. According to Minister for Tourism, Information and Broadcasting, Culture and Creative Industries, Honourable Dominic Fede the recorded figures speak clearly to the strength and demand for St Lucia Carnival. While July comes in at an aggregate of 42,773, that is the first time in the history of our country that what is considered the traditional low period that it has surpassed a winter month or all winter months, Mr. Speaker, every in history and also for the year of 2019. And so, Mr. Speaker, what it does is that it shows that the investment and the policy shift of this government to move away from over investment in the jazz festival and to focus on our carnival, Mr. Speaker, has yielded significant benefits and it has highlighted and showcased our culture, our indigenous culture, carnival, Mr. Speaker, as the biggest festival in St Lucia. The minister also highlighted the success of the recently concluded 9th Annual UK Showcase. The minister indicated that St Lucia was able to unveil a comprehensive marketing strategy and an additional US$1 million will be injected into direct advertising in the UK market. This, he said, is very important to mitigate any potential fallout stemming from Brexit. Honourable Fady explain that St Lucia would also be receiving increased airlift from the UK market. Meetings were held with Thomas Cook, British Airways and Thompson, Mr. Speaker, as airlines that have indicated significant interest in advancing capacity. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, in the coming weeks we will be making very specific announcements as it relates to how the individual carriers will be expanding their capacity into St Lucia. Mr. Speaker, we estimate that based on the meetings we had, we will see, Mr. Speaker, in the region of 500 to 750 extra seats coming into St Lucia on a weekly basis from the UK market. During the UK Showcase, two fundraising charity initiatives were held where over 1,000 EC dollars was raised for the St Lucia Diabetes Association and the boys' training centre. For the Government Information Service, I am General Norville. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Tourism is collaborating with the Travel Foundation in developing the human resource in the tourism sector. Thursday, a press launch was held for a national action plan and capacity-building workshop for hotel personnel. Anise Antoine was in attendance. The Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Travel Foundation have officially launched the Low Carbon and Resource Efficient Action Plan for accommodation in St Lucia. The action plan focuses mainly on energy and waste and includes recommendations for government and related public agencies such as policy formulation, incentives and infrastructure changes, as well as recommendations for hotels and their suppliers to improve energy efficiency, reduce waste generation, for sustainable procurement. Carolina Fernandez is the destination's programme officer at the Travel Foundation. The main objective of the action of this project is to strengthen the capacity of the tourism sector to engage greenhouse gas emissions, improve resource efficiency and drive sustainable production and consumption, to ultimately decoupling tourism growth from carbon emissions and assist the country to achieve their indices. The action plan has been developed under the Transforming Tourism Value Chain project led by the UN Environment Programme and implemented in St Lucia by the Travel Foundation. Vincent Sweeney is the head of the Caribbean sub-regional office of UNEP. We are now at the point of implementation and implementation of this plan will require collective work and partnerships and I think that's important to repeat the implementation because we don't just want a nice booklet that you walk home and you put on your shelf or in your office. We want something that will be implemented and it will require collective work and partnerships and sustainability. The head of the Caribbean sub-regional office of UNEP formally presented a copy of the action plan to the Minister for Tourism Information Broadcasting, Culture and Creative Industries Honourable Dominique Fede. Honourable Fede reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring the success of the project. We've embraced the vision of a competitive tourism destination as a catalyst for sustainable national development. So again embracing the two themes of competitiveness but also sustainability and that we believe is very comprehensive. The Low Carbon Resource Efficient Action Plan for Accommodation for St Lucia was launched on Thursday, September 19th, 2019. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. Still with capacity building in tourism, discussions are ongoing between St Lucia and the top-rated hospitality university about the possibility of such a facility in St Lucia. Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney met with the head of Lausanne University while in Switzerland. It is hoped that the university would serve not only St Lucia but the rest of the Caribbean. We all believe that having a high quality tertiary level facility here would be fantastic. What's great about the curriculum at Lausanne is that it's fully integrated both in academics as well as practical. And given the number of hotel rooms that we have here, our access to the cruise market, that we can provide those opportunities for the young people that while they're at school they can also now intern at different levels of hotels as well as the cruise industry. Prime Minister Hon. Shastney anticipates that representatives from the university will visit St. Lucia later this year. The DSH project is actually building a 230-room hotel specifically to be a university hotel which will be right next to the operation. So once the Lausanne group sign on, then they'll be proceeding to build the property. So they have seen the designs. They already work with the DSH group in Switzerland. So the Lausanne University has been working with Mr. Tehr King and his group for the last four years. So I want to thank him for the opportunity he's created for this new development. And that was Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney. In other developments, recognizing that geospatial data is an asset that can be used for better decision-making and for the implementation of more effective and efficient policy decisions, the Government of St. Lucia through the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, DVRP, offered a consultancy to Cadaska International to assist with the establishment of a national spatial data infrastructure, NSDI. More from Lucia's doxery. The consultancy is being managed by the Department of Physical Planning, which is seeking to establish open systems and platforms to create, share, analyze, and use disaster risk and climate change data and information for improved decision-making, as well as for risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Consultant with Cadaska International, Danny van der Broeker, says a spatial data infrastructure is about storing and sharing information. So as the eyes, it's quite a technical term, it means in fact that you built a platform where you put together geospatial data from different stakeholders, can be on road networks, it can be on disaster management, it can be on agriculture, so a lot of different spatial data are existing, but they should be better disclosed and made available for everyone. So it's about sharing of geospatial data. That's what the project is about and the strategy is being developed gradually together with all the stakeholders. To date, the government of St. Lucia has made significant investments in the acquisition and use of spatial information for planning, governance of the nation, and the delivery of public services. GIS officer in the Department of Physical Planning, Philip Hippolit, says the ongoing consultancy is critical to effective decision-making. When you have this centralized architecture, because it's not just a system, it's about policy, it's about governance, it's about how we do business, it creates an enrichment for decision-making when you have all the information created in one package environment. When disaster occurs, you need information from roads, you need telecommunication information, you need to know how to slope stabilization for landslides, all that information now can be pulled from different agencies, from forestry, from infrastructure, from water resources and surveying and mapping and planning, and you get all this information and it can be calculated quickly. With the vision for the spatial data infrastructure already established, stakeholders have been engaged in discussing ways in which the vision can be successfully implemented. It is anticipated that the final report from the consultants will be delivered in the next few months. And this is the NTN Nightly. Ryan O'Brien is up next. I was in my neighborhood. It was a very dark night. I decided to go for a drink by a bar. On my way from the bar, I felt the stink to my right leg. When I looked back, I knew it was a fuller snake. You happen to be in an area where there are snakes and you are bitten by a snake. This is what you do. You call for help and try to reach the Victoria Hospital within one or three hours. You will be seen immediately. My uncle at the time was a police officer called the Victoria Hospital and told them that we're coming down for a snake bite. It's the only facility on the island which has a protocol and a treatment plan where you can be treated adequately. We call them before you go there so they can prepare for you. They are adequate supplies of antivenom with doctors who have been trained in the treatment protocols of the snake bite. Welcome back. We join Ryan O'Brien for the latest happenings in youth development and sports. Welcome everyone to your update from the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports on the NTN Nightly News. I'm Ryan O'Brien. Officials from the San Jose Toys and Authority are pleased with the success of last weekend's Channel Swim by Cameron Bellamy and the exposure it has brought to the island. Senior Marketing Officer of the San Jose Toys and Authority Jackie Matra told the open water swimmer she was proud of his record and that San Jose was involved. I've reached out to our colleagues in Barbados and it's so nice to have that inter-island sharing of the sweet that you've accomplished. We are very proud of you. We want to say that we are thankful that you made it and that you're healthy and that you're great and that you created a world record in San Lucia. Meanwhile, Sue Dyson, one of the organizers of the San Lucia Channel Swim emphasized that a lot of preparation went into the event stating that channel swimming is not easy. It's not easy at all. It's not easy for the swimmer. It's not easy for the support crew. But it's been going on since 1875 which is when Captain Webb Swimmer crossed the English Channel for the first time. But to have a historic event, someone crossing the longest channel swim with Cameron doing that, we are just in the midst of a great man to think that he has not ever been a swimmer until recent years. So the English Channel is a feat. Being an Ocean 7 swimmer is even more of a feat. And to be the 11th person to do it, I commend you because I know that you hadn't been swimming long when you did that. But now to do this, Cameron, you're just amazing. Bellamy took on a 94 mile open water swim challenge last weekend from St. Peter's Bay in Barbados to St. Lucia that ended just off Moulashie. The Ministry of Youth Development and Sports is currently making up the schedule for school sports events 2019-2020, particularly Big 8 Football and Netball. Following a meeting on Monday at the Ministry's conference room on Miku Street with physical education teachers from secondary schools on the island. Another meeting set for September 24th at 9 a.m. this time involving primary school physical education teachers will assist the Ministry in finalizing and formatting this year's inter-school sporting events. And that's your update from Youth Development and Sports for today. I'm Ryan O'Brien. Thanks, Ryan. The Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and the University of the Virgin Islands are collaborating for the advancement of higher education for St. Lucia A memorandum of understanding between the two learning institutions was signed on September 18th, 2019 and will allow for joint faculty research and student exchange, among other things. Vice President for Business Development and Innovation at UVI Dr. Haldein Davies says one of the more significant areas of cooperation is the seamless transition of students from this Arthur Lewis Community College to attend the UVI. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education which is one of the six regional accredited bodies across the United States of America that's recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Our colleges and schools also have individual professional accreditation. Our School of Nursing has ACN accreditation. Our School of Business ACSB accreditation. Our School of Education INCATE accreditation and we are going on for further educations with social work with our computer programs, ABET accreditation and our School of Medicine which is currently being developed and the buildings are under construction. Every student of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College who enrolls at UVI to pursue a bachelor's degree will receive an annual scholarship of approximately 6,000 U.S. dollars from UVI. Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, John Calix, welcomes these opportunities. As chairman of the Board of Governors of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College I'm therefore confident that this relationship will be down to the benefit of all involved. UVI can be a short of quality graduates from this institution earning degrees and other disciplines that can only help grow our economy and our society. I do want to express the gratitude of the Board for the offer of a scholarship to our students who will be attending the university or any one of your campuses in the Virgin Islands. On behalf of the Board of Governors we do thank you for making that opportunity available to the students from the college. I also only thank you for the opportunity to allow our students to work at the university and also be paid for the services. And that was chairman of the Board of Governors of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, John Calix. And stay with the NTN Knightley, up next, Primus Hutchinson is here with the NTN Nouvelle Acreol. When a hurricane is approaching, safety of life and the preservation of livelihoods is most important. We should take heed. Create proper drainage along the contour of your farm. Harvest and store all crops that could be harvested. And if possible to sell any produce, do so. Reinforce farmhouses by using screws or hurricane ties to secure the roof and ensure that it is boarded up. Remove all plastic covers from greenhouses and store properly in your reinforced farmhouse. Secure all official agriculture and farming business documents and policies in sealed plastic coverings. And perhaps consider taking out a crop insurance policy to secure your agro livelihood. Take all possible precautions ahead of a hurricane or tropical storm. This is the hurricane season and we should be prepared. A message brought to you by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Cooperatives. Welcome back. We join Primus Hutchinson for the NTN Nouvelle-à-Cueil. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.