ROTA (MVA) — In conjunction with Rota Marathon 2026, the Marianas Tourism Education Council and the Marianas Visitors Authority visited schools on “The Friendly Island” to talk tourism on Friday, Jan. 30.
Representatives of MTEC and MVA visited students of Sinapalo Elementary and Dr. Rita H. Inos Jr./Sr. High to share about the Marianas’ leading economic driver, the industry’s impact on daily life, and how youth can contribute to its success, even at a young age.
The annual outreach initiative reaches 5th, 7th, and 10th grade students with interactive presentations and activities.
“It’s so engaging, how you advertise between Saipan and Rota,” 4th grade teacher Lorna Calvo-King told the presenters, referring to the mock marketing battle staged with snacks to demonstrate destination competition. ““I think this is a great presentation. Every year you guys come back and you add more to it. It is very amazing.”
Later that day, the team engaged students at the junior/senior high schools, where several students had already signed up to join Rota Marathon 2026 the following day, an MVA signature event that attracted over 100 registrations from Japan, Korea, USA, Guam, and the Marianas.
MTEC and the MVA aim to visit every public school in Saipan, Tinian, and Rota every year. MTEC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is threefold: to foster community understanding and support of the visitor industry; to educate the public, especially school students, about the value, social benefits, and economic contributions made to the community by the visitor industry; and to instill, improve, and promote the “Hafa Adai-Tirow” hospitality spirit throughout the island community.
