ROSEHALL, St James – Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett will lead a team to the South American countries of Brazil,Argentina, Equador, Columbia and Mexico this monthend on a visitor-wooing mission.

“The winter in South America is the summer here, so its the perfect place,” he told the inaugural Youth tourism expo last week.

The expo which was staged at the Ritz Carlton resort under the the theme “Youth embracing excellence in Tourism” saw hundreds of students attending.

Noting that the trip represented part of a strategy to maintain growth in the tourism industry by capitalising on season-driven opportunities, Bartlett said that he expected results to offset the expected falloff in visitors from countries like Canada, which according to statistics quoted by the Minister, boosted the visitor arrivals at the beginning of the year.

Despite the world economic recession which has been putting several industries under pressure, the tourism industry has been experiencing growth under an optimistic Bartlett who has been relentessly pursuing an aggressive policy to make the island’s offerings irresistable to traditional and non-traditional markets.