Tourism Minister is Weekly News Person of The year

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, January 15, 2023 – Josephine Connolly, Minister of Tourism has been named the Turks and Caicos Weekly News Person of the Year for 2022. She was highlighted by the newspaper on January 7th for her resilience through not only her own political comeback but leading the Tourism ministry through its comeback from COVID as well.

“Still She Rises” was the headline gracing the cover of the issue which dealt with Connolly’s introduction to politics and the upheaval during her first term which led to her being named a cabinet minister then terminated from the PDM and finally crossing the floor to the PNP to definitively win her seat once again.

Author of the article Gemma Handy describes Connolly’s ‘steady hand at the helm of TCIs mainstay which kept the country punching above its weight’ in the Tourism market as the reason she was bestowed the honor.

Connolly told Handy “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was flattered – I was very happy. Recognition and positive feedback are important for everyone. It makes me very proud.”

She described how her mother fostered in her and sister an entrepreneurial spirit.  “As little as we were, if anyone came in for a carton of milk or a bottle of kerosene we were sensible enough to sell it— if someone came in for gas, my sister would say, you take care of the oil and I will go behind the counter. That’s where we got our entrepreneurial spirit from.”

She is now the owner of several successful businesses including a car rental agency; radio station; and real estate dealership. Her sojourn into politics and her reentry as a PNP candidate she said was to help the people of the TCI.

“I had some unfinished business, and I wanted to be able to prove to the people of this country that I can represent them—my heart is good, people know me and they knew me from before politics. I feel like I have an obligation to help my country and I like helping people.”

Connolly joins the ranks of Drexwell Seymour, Ruth Forbes, Anya Williams, Washington Misick, Rita Gardiner, Delano Williams and Blythe Clare who have all been named at Person of the Year by the country’s oldest newspaper.