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Marianas Trench exhibit to head to Fiesta Resort
Members of the Hotel Association of the NMI, Friends of the Marianas Trench Monument, and Marianas Visitors Authority pose for a photo after the ribbon-cutting ceremony over the weekend. (Erwin Encinares)
A photo exhibit of the 2016 Marianas Trench research exploration will head to Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan after being shown at the Hyatt Regency Saipan lobby.
The Friends of the Marianas Trench Monument celebrated a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 32-piece photo exhibit of a recent deep-water exploration of the Marianas Trench.
The exhibit was made possible by a collaboration among the Friends of the Marianas Trench Monument, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Marianas Visitors Authority, and the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Lauri Peterka, who is secretary of the Friends of the Marianas Trench Monument, said the exhibit would circulate among the hotel lobbies under HANMI for 24 months, starting with Hyatt Regency Saipan and then later at Fiesta Resort & Spa.
“After the 24 months are up, we would sign a memorandum of understanding with MVA to…have the photographs retired to a public space, such as the airport, the library, or someplace where the people could see it,” she said, adding that the exhibit is also available for loan after the initial 24 months in circulation.
Peterka noted that it will be decided among HANMI members how long they plan to keep the exhibit in their hotel lobbies.
HANMI chair Gloria Cavanagh noted that the exhibit targets the numerous tourists that research the CNMI prior to actually setting foot on the islands.
“…They want to know what makes [the CNMI] so special, so they always ask about the Marianas Trench,” she said.
According to Cavanagh, HANMI hotels have yet to decide which hotel lobby would next host the exhibit but the focus is on Garapan.
“We want to do the Garapan core first because that would capture a lot of people and then a lot of locals also, so they can look at this project. Schools can come in and look at this project also, so we would start it there,” she said.
After the 12 hotels of HANMI have cycled through the exhibit, Cavanagh said they would cycle through the hotels again until the end of the 24 months.
