Fourth graders at Tinian Elementary School welcome presenters from the Marianas Tourism Education Council and the Marianas Visitors Authority to their school in San Jose, Tinian, on Feb. 14, 2025, to learn about tourism.
Marianas Visitors Authority Community Projects Coordinator Sherman Santos, left, leads 4th graders at Tinian Elementary School in pledging to be friendly to visitors and help keep their island clean during a presentation at their school in San Jose, Tinian, on Feb. 14, 2025.
(MVA) — The Marianas Tourism Education Council and the Marianas Visitors Authority took their tourism message to schoolchildren in Tinian on Friday, Feb. 14, just in time for the 21st Annual Tinian Hot Pepper Festival.
The festival — known to locals as Pika Fest — is an annual signature event of MVA aimed at attracting visitors and media attention to the island. Students also learned about marketing and other programs of MVA, as well as the value of tourism and how they can help their community and families by supporting tourism.
“The young people of Tinian have a wonderful, welcoming spirit and a lot of healthy pride in their island home,” said MTEC Board Member Catherine Perry. “And it’s obvious from how clean Tinian is that keeping the island beautiful is a way of life for them, as well. Pika Fest was the perfect time for them to see how hospitality, island beautification, tourists, and the economy all work together.”
“Planting Peace – Manånånum Pås – Ffóttol llol Tipiyeew” is the theme of this year’s outreach to students, a message shared with students at Tinian Elementary School and Tinian Jr./Sr. High School.
The annual school outreach aims to engage 4th graders, 7th graders, and 10th graders on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota with current information and activities highlighting The Marianas’ primary economic driver.
MTEC is a non-profit organization whose mission is three-fold: 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. The organization is also preparing for its annual MTEC Tourism Summit with school MY WAVE Clubs in January 2025.
For more information, contact MVA Community Projects Coordinator Jack Aranda at communityprojects@mymarianas.com or (670) 664-3200/1.
