ITC Media releases
updated 24th March 2009
CH4/2009
ITC at Pasifika
Pacific pride was in full force on Saturday 13th March with more than 200,000 people attending the annual Pasifika
Festival at Auckland's Western Springs.
At the suggestion of students, The International Travel College (ITC) held a stand at the event for the first time in
Pasifika’s 17-year history.
The 10 staff and 20 students, all in their colourful Pasifika t-shirts, enjoyed what the day had to offer, exploring the
ten cultural 'villages' representing each Pacific nation and trying the mix of traditional and Island-inspired food -
such as the well-known ice-cream-in-watermelon salad. As well as stands selling arts, crafts and taonga, Pasifika
featured performances by King Kapisi, Nesian Mystik and Scribe. A host of rugby, soccer and league teams - including the
Warriors' development team, the Vulcans - kicked off from 8am and continued throughout the festival.
ITC’s representatives did a great job of promoting the college to potential students. “It was great having the students
there,” said Claire Huxley, Marketing Manager at ITC, “as they were able to chat to people about life at ITC and what
it’s really like. We really appreciated their help; they were great role models for the college”. Many current and past
students came to chat to the ITC team and admired the huge 6 metre wide ITC photo collage, which had photos from
graduations, student events and students now working in the industry.
ITC also worked with NUI FM in the “Reach for the Skies” campaign, raising awareness that ITC was at Pasifika and
encouraging people who were interested in a career in the airline, airport, travel and tourism industry to come to the
stand and chat about courses and options. Two students from ITC – Patrick Salima and Rosa Faiva – were on NUI FM’s
stage, Polyhut, promoting the college via a stage interview and a live radio interview.
“We had a great day,” said Claire Huxley. “A large percentage of our students come from the Pacific Islands, so it was
great to be at this event and support them and the local community.”
This event was so popular with the staff and students, that ITC are having their own version in each campus too!
ENDS