Four local high school students are preparing for a trip to Monaco in November after being selected as local winners of the annual National Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP) Research Competition.

The winners, each of whom is in Grade 11 and is part of the Chef Training Program at David Thompson Secondary School (DTSS), are Leigh Thompson, Sarah Zehnder, Gracie Oaks and Emily Zehnder.

“They display incredible teamwork; they really take charge,” said Allison Bell, one of two teacher advisors for the students. “When students come out of DTSS, they have a pretty good knowledge of the importance of local food systems, because we promote that a lot at the school.”

The theme of this years’ event is culinary tourism, and the students’ pitch, submitted in February, revolves around an investigation of the Columbia Valley as a potential culinary tourism destination. The students are exploring whether including more local food on restaurant menus, holding a food festival, or increasing the presence of farmers markets could carve the valley a niche in the culinary travel industry.

The students will put forward their final case study in September.