Tourism body to launch aggressive campaign

The Marianas Tourism Education Council has finalized an action plan involving a range of activities for the remaining months of the year and on to 2005, meant to foster community support for the visitor industry and bring a better understanding of the contributions it has made to the CNMI.

The activities will be done through tie-ups with the Marianas Visitors Authority, the Public School System, and the private sector, including the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands and Duty Free Shop Galleria.

In a general membership meeting held Wednesday this week at Dai-Ichi Hotel, MTEC officers, directors and sponsors agreed to hold the following events:

* Monthly school visits by the council’s board members aimed at providing students with deeper insights on tourism and how it works for the CNMI in view of encouraging them into taking up a career in the hospitality profession later in life.

* A beach cleanup by the MY WAVE tourism clubs and MTEC to nurture the values of community service among the youth and the importance of a clean environment in attracting more visitors.

* A fun run to help raise money for various tourism-related projects.

* “Hafa Adai” greetings at the Saipan International Airport for arriving tourists.

* Christmas caroling at the hotels and other establishments.

MTEC and the MY WAVE tourism clubs will also be greatly involved in welcoming an estimated 400 students from Hokkaido, Japan at the end of the year. Last year, over 100 MY WAVErs shared a day of interaction with the visiting students at the Garapan Elementary School. Pacific Development Inc., whose general manager, Yoichi Matsumura sits on the MTEC board, helped organized the annual event.

“We’re definitely taking it to the next level,” said MTEC president Mark Swinton. “Tourism works for all of us, and we all need to welcome our guests with the Hafa Adai spirit.”

Swinton also said, “As the garment industry is expected to reduce in size during 2005, the tourism industry will grow in importance for our economy and our lives.”

Starting Jan. 1, 2005, the entry of foreign-manufactured garments into the U.S. will be quota-free with the full implementation of the Agreements on Textiles and Clothing by the World Trade Organization. Garment manufacturers in the CNMI have been enjoying quota-free importation of their products to the U.S. by virtue of Headnote 3A provisions of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule since they started operations here in 1983.

So far this year, MTEC, in coordination with PSS, has organized several events highlighted by the 2nd Annual MY WAVE Tourism Summit, which was participated by over 400 MY WAVE tourism club members, advisors, PSS officials and MTEC.

Earlier in the year, MTEC officials visited the Marianas High School and the Saipan Southern High School during Career Day to give a lecture on tourism.

Individual MY WAVE tourism clubs also held separate activities including car wash fundraisers in coordination with Shell Marianas. Oleai Elementary School MY WAVErs painted over 50 trash drums that will be installed along Beach Road’s joggers pathway to help maintain a clean environment.

Aside from the regular school visits, lobby and airport greetings as well as beach cleanups, MTEC has lined up the following initiatives for next year:

* Expansion of MY WAVE membership to other schools, including private ones.

* Integration of a tourism curriculum into the PSS.

* Recognition of the council as an educational institution.

* A TV spot.

* A tie-up with MVA on the training of frontline government employees like the Divisions of Immigration, Quarantine and Customs about hospitality with an incentive called the Hafa Adai Hospitality Awards. The employees will also be issued “Welcome to the CNMI” badges.

* MY WAVE bumper stickers.

* Film slides to be shown at every end of a movie at the Wallace Theater.

* Tie-up with other groups for the arrival of the Wakkai Neko No Kai ship in May.

* A golf tournament.

* Presentations before the Rotary Club of Saipan and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.

A 3rd Annual MY WAVE Tourism Summit has also been scheduled for April, and is expected to be participated in by a bigger number of students.

MTEC is a body comprised of a cross-section of the community, government and the private sector.

Swinton is Dai-Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach general manager. The council’s vice president is MVA managing director Vicky Benavente; secretary is PSS associate commissioner Rita Sablan; and James Whitt, Ernst & Young partner is treasurer.

The officers are also on the MTEC board of directors, whose members include Marian Aldan-Pierce, Duty Free Galleria-Saipan president; Tony De Leon Guerrero, Northern Marianas College president; Larry Lee, acting NMC Business Department chair and tourism instructor; Jon Cramer, director of Pacific Islands Club’s Sports, Entertainment and Activities section; Matsumura and Ray Dela Cruz, head of the Tinian Mayor’s Office’s promotions division.

Among MTEC’s sponsors are Tan Holdings Corp., PDI, Ernst & Young and HANMI.

MTEC has three sponsorship packages—gold ($3,000), silver ($1,500) and bronze ($750). THC and HANMI had signed up for a silver package; Ernst & Young, and PDI went for bronze.

Swinton said other interested businesses and individuals may avail of the sponsorship package which entitles sponsors to advertisements of their services and inclusion in all MTEC and MY WAVE activities.

MTEC was formed in 2002 to heighten the community’s awareness on the importance of tourism to the well-being of the CNMI. It was created on the belief that for the CNMI to stay competitive in the regional tourism market, it is crucial that everyone promote the islands here and abroad.

The council helped organize the MY WAVE tourism Clubs with PSS. To date, there are over 600 MY WAVErs in 14 schools.