Marianas Tourism Education Council gathered elementary school students from all over the island for the first day of their 2015 Tourism Summit at the Saipan World Resort yesterday.<\/p>\n
The summit drew 343 students, according to MTEC chairwoman Vicky Benavente.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not only giving them messages but we are teaching them how to respond to questions like \u2018If you work in the industry, what kind of jobs would you be interested in?\u2019\u201d she said on the summit\u2019s goals that day.<\/p>\n
Elementary school students took turns presenting these ideas, marking down thoughts about their future in the tourism industry and sharing it with the crowd.<\/p>\n
Lifeguards, waiters, emergency responders, and other jobs were listed for example.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese kids are thinking about tomorrow while they are still very young,\u201d Benavente said.<\/p>\n
An environmental responsibility was also promoted to the kids gathered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got to have one with other,\u201d Benavente said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to respect your environment so our tourists will come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Glenn Policare was the keynote speaker yesterday. He is the director of sports, entertainment and activities at the Pacific Island Club Saipan.<\/p>\n
He stressed to the students yesterday to greet tourist not only in their local language but \u201cto learn a little bit of their tourist language.\u201d<\/p>\n
He taught the hundreds of students how to say \u201chello\u201d and \u201cthank you\u201d in Korean, Japanese, Russian, and Chinese\u2014the CNMI\u2019s four major markets.<\/p>\n
He talked also about environmental awareness\u2014how trash \u201cseverely impacts this island and the image of Saipan,\u201d as well as what people can do keep the island clean, like contacting different departments or joining beach cleanups.<\/p>\n
\u201cStart at your house, work your way to the community, and pick a spot on the island,\u201d was his environment message.<\/p>\n
He said the final message he shared was to create a positive memory with a tourist, whether it is taking a picture, helping a lost guest finding their way, pointing out a restaurant, or a thing to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur visitors come as guests, and we want them to leave as friends,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Policare\u2019s career in hospitality has continued for more than 20 years, starting in a summer camp in the mainland, where he worked his way up as junior counselor to program director. He has also worked at Turtle Bay Hilton on the island of Oahu.<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose to live on Saipan a number of years ago because the things that people come to visit here on Saipan are not man-made. There\u2019s one Grotto, there\u2019s only one Mt. Tapochau. There\u2019s some absolutely spectacular places on this island that you can\u2019t see anywhere else in the world. Everyone knows Disneyland. But there\u2019s a Disneyland in Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Florida\u2026That\u2019s manmade. People come to visit us for specific reasons. We are a warm destination, we are friendly destination, and we are an absolutely beautiful destination. That is what\u2019s really drawn me to the island,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that yesterday\u2019s summit is an amazing opportunity to help students learn about how \u201ceach little contribution they make can make a greater contribution overall.\u201d<\/p>\n
The summit continues for its second day today for secondary level students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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