Tourism from the students’ viewpoint

THE images of blue skies and white sand beaches flashed on the huge white screen mounted on the wall. Lively music filled the room as over 250 students from different schools have their eyes riveted on the screen watching familiar scenes come to life.

Jinky Kintaro of Saipan Southern High school shares her experiences of traveling to Japan as a My WAVE Club member.

In a few minutes, the screen was filled with life and laughter as students and other people were caught on video enjoying the beautiful scenery that a lot of people from here just take for granted.

Seen from the eyes of these high school students, ordinary scenes from everyday life became more interesting and colorful, and that’s how the members of the Marianas Tourism Education Council’s MY WAVE club from Saipan Southern High School want to promote Saipan to the rest of the world.  

The video which was shown during the annual MTEC Summit held at the Pacific Islands Club last month was produced in a DVD called “I Love Saipan” by members of the SSHS MY WAVE Club. Aside from entertaining the other MY WAVE Club members from elementary, junior high and high schools in the island, it also inspired them to think of ways to promote tourism.

MTEC president Vicky Benavente earlier commended the SSHS MY WAVE Club for the DVD production and appreciated their understanding of the importance of tourism as the island’s prime industry.

SSHS MY WAVE Club is led by its energetic president Bertran Palacios who encouraged the students to keep their ears and eyes open to see what they can contribute to bring more tourists to the island.

Officers of MY WAVE Clubs from other schools also did their presentations on how they plan to promote tourism.

Here are some of the plans and projects of the MY WAVE Club members:

·  Beach and roadside clean ups

Saipan Southern High School My WAVE Club president Bertran Palacios answers questions. Photos by Raquel C. Bagnol

·  Reaching out to the visitors

·  Having a sunny disposition toward the island and its visitors

·  Advertise Saipan to a greater level through the internet, TV, radio and print

·  Preserve the beautiful sites and attractions throughout the islands

·  Improve health services and accommodations

·  Improve the attitudes of hotel staff and those in the tourism industry toward everybody, not just tourists

·  Make it easier for tourists to move around like having more manageable hotel bookings, bus schedules, etc.

·  Work toward a cleaner environment.

MY WAVE, which stands for Marianas Youth Welcome All Visitors Enthusiastically is one of MTEC’s way of promoting tourism among students and get active involvement.

MTEC is a non-profit organization which aims to educate the public on the importance of the tourism industry. MTEC and the Marianas Visitors Authority began its annual outreach to the different private and public schools last month.