Northern Marianas College and four other major institutions in the Pacific are developing a common tour guide program for Micronesia to protect the islands’ market interest in the international tourism industry.
Former Guam Sen. John C. Salas, associate professor of international tourism at the University of Guam, said that aside from NMC, Palau Community College, UOG, Guam Community College and Marshall Islands College would also help in the project.
“There are five institutions working as a team and not just NMC itself. We agreed that we would develop within the next half a year, maybe, to develop a common tour guide program for Micronesia,” said Salas, who is also a former UOG president.
“Right now, all these institutions are represented on the education committee of the (Pacific Asia Travel Association) and we are all working on common plans to help all of the islands,” he added.
The planned common tour guide program is expected to boost the region’s effort to package themselves collectively as the “Magnificent Micronesia.”
Colleges play a major role in every island’s effort to train and develop their own local workforce that will later actively participate in their respective tourism industries, Salas said.
He added that it is equally important that the colleges in the region work closely to maximize their scarce resources.
He said many CNMI college students pursuing four-year courses end up enrolling at UOG because of Saipan’s proximity to Guam.
“Instead of taking money that may be scarce now, why not send the students to other institutions which are in the neighborhood?” Salas said.
He said four CNMI college students specializing in international tourism had enrolled at UOG.
PATA members recently held their annual meeting on Saipan. One of the major decisions made was to allow a student from the CNMI to get a scholarship from PATA.
Salas said NMC and the Marianas Visitors Authority will make the announcement about the scholarship.
