Japanese students to promote Rota at JATA fair

Ten students from Waseda University in Japan recently toured the island of Rota as part of their upcoming presentation for the Japan Travel Association World Tourism Congress and Travel Fair.

The Fair will be held on Sept. 18-20 at the Tokyo Big Sight (International Center) where the Waseda students will present what they have gathered during their tour on Rota.

A Rota booth will be put up during the fair to promote the island as a tourist destination area.

While on Rota, the students photographed various facilities and tourist spots.

They also stayed at the homes of local residents, visited tourist spots, and experienced snorkeling in the pristine waters of Rota and the local fiesta night with cultural dinner show.

The tour was the first activity of the Waseda University students. It was in line with the development of Rota charter flights.

The students took the Rota charter flight as it was recommended to them by Waseda alumnus Yoshinori Ochi, Senior Managing Director of Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., Ltd. (KNT) of Japan. Ochi’s company will provide the Rota booth for the students at the JATA fair.

The students arrived on Rota Aug. 20 for their three-day tour.

They stayed at the Rota Resort and Country Club, spent the rest of the day sightseeing around the island, had a barbecue for lunch at Teteto beach, inspected Rota Hotel and Coconut Village and had a courtesy call at government offices as well as a meeting with the host family at their hotel.

On their second day, the students were hosted to a breakfast at the host family’s house, followed by tours in the community where they had the chance to experience the local culture and custom.

They also met the staff of the Rota charter project as well as joined the local people in a summer night fiesta.

For an assignment, the students were grouped into two and assigned to do hotel chores like attending to hotel guests or setting up a venue for a night party.

Tan Holdings Corp. also hosted lunch for the interns, who were accompanied by their professor, Fumiaki Miyashita.

The student interns were Takahiro Meguro, Yuhei Morii, Umpei Okamura, Tomoaki Fujii, Takahiko Nakamura, Kosuke Tanaka, Tomoyo Kasai, Saori Komiya, Nayo Morita and Moe Murakami, all 20-year-old third year college students.

On Rota, the students were met by Cristin Ayuyu, the Rota Mayor’s representative as the mayor was off island and not available. They were given a welcome party at the Mayor’s office too. They also met Edward Maratitia, MVA Rota board member as well as Yoichi Matsumura, MVA board member.