Highlighting a “very important initiative” to gain experience in the tourism industry for the “best and the brightest” Bermudians, Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell paid tribute to the David H Allen Memorial Internship.Speaking in the House of Assembly on Friday, the Minister acknowledged four young Bermudians selected as interns as a result of the initiative.Mr Crockwell said: “Alton Roberts will be working with our New York advertising agency Fuseideas. A student of the University of the West of England, he is pursuing a major in Tourism Management.“Kharis Brooks will be working with Lou Hammond and Associates. She also attends the same university pursuing a major in Marketing Communications.“Pursuing a major in Tourism Management at the University of Guelph in Canada, Simon Benevides will be working at the Department of Tourism’s New York Office.“And Tiffany Sanchez will work out of the department’s Bermuda office. She’s presently studying at Johnson & Wales University in the US, majoring in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Management.”The initiative was undertaken by the Bermuda Department of Tourism 14 years ago.“In 2003 the former Tourism Minister Renee Webb renamed this internship programme to the David H Allen Memorial Internship after a man who was keen to ensure that we trained and nurtured the best and the brightest Bermudians so that they can one day take over as leaders in our tourism and hospitality industry.“This internship has afforded many young people an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the tourism product,” said Mr Crockwell.Bermudian university students are selected to work at one of the department’s international marketing agencies, or the department in Bermuda or New York.The programme “commences in late spring with each agency preparing a work plan for the intern that spans an eight-week period”.“This programme offers the interns first-hand experience to embarking on a career associated with the hospitality industry,” said Mr Crockwell.“Students must be entering a junior or senior year in September of the current academic year.”To be selected students must submit an essay, a minimum of 1,000 words, that “outlines their perceptions of the challenges facing Bermuda’s tourism industry and their recommendations with regard to addressing the perceived challenges. All essays should end with an outline of their career objectives and indications of how the internship will assist them in achieving those objectives”.