Third tourism market needed to bolster NMI’s visitor industry
BY MARK RABAGO Saipan Correspondent
SAN ROQUE,Saipan—The Marianas Visitors Authority’s offices in South Korea and Japan updated the tourism body’s members about the strides they’re currently making to shore up the Northern Mariana Island’s two main tourism markets.
However, what became clear during MVA Korea market country manager Julia Koo and MVA Japan Project manager Ishida Yu’s presentations was the need for the Northern Marianas to tap into a third tourism market to shore up its lone economic driver —the visitor arrival industry.
The islands’ previous No. 1 tourism market, China, brought in about a quarter of a million tourists before the COVID-19 pandemic. During his welcome at MVA’s biannual general membership meeting in January at the Kensington Hotel Saipan, outgoing MVA managing director Christopher A. Concepcion lamented the absence of a China office. His term ends Feb. 28.
MVA is attempting to fill the void with U.S. military tourists and other markets like Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Australia, with differing levels of success.
“Arrivals from China were equal to Korea before the pandemic, but they're now only 6% market share. We do not have direct flights from mainland China or a representative office in China at this time. We are feeling positive that Hong Kong Airlines may increase flight frequency from Hong Kong this summer,” he said.
MVA has participated in meetings, trade shows, roadshows, and expos. “Our objective at these events remains to introduce and provide updates on the Marianas to the public, to the airlines and tour operators and travel agencies who might be interested in visiting or doing business here,” he said. Concepcion said the market is competitive and the NMI’s regional neighbors also attend the events. MVA is marketing the NMI through Hong Kong Airlines and other partners to conduct marketing and promotions in Hong Kong and in mainland China, he said.
MVA’s efforts have been futile, Concepcion said.Due to travel time, cost and inconvenience, “Many Chinese are just not willing to take a connecting flight to get here, at least not the over 200,000 Chinese arrivals we had pre-COVID, so direct flights are essential,” he said.
MVA managing director Christopher A. Concepcion during MVA's membership meeting. Photo by Mark Rabago.
Some of MVA’s initiatives include marketing on transport, credit card holder discounts, YouTube tie-ups, [Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions] group incentives, Facebook, Instagram ads, and more, Concepcion said. “We are very hopeful that the current two-time weekly (Hong Kong) flights will increase in frequency soon.”
MVA board Chairwoman Gloria C. Cavanagh also underscored the need for a strong third market.
“We are all aware of the challenges in the industry that continues to face us, especially unfolding developments in our top tourism markets of Korea and Japan. The strength of the U.S. dollar continues to work against the Marianas in both the Korea and the Japan markets. There is still a need for a strong third source market. Tourism is never an easy industry. But we are hoping with the new administration taking office in Washington, D.C. and with the efforts of our new congresswoman, we will see some traction in our efforts,” she said prior to Concepcion’s speech.
Saipan Chamber of Commerce board member and Tan Holding Vice President Alexander A. Sablan said after the MVA meeting, “The only way to generate that half a million mark [for tourists] is to see more flights from Korea, more flights from Japan. I still don't think we can get there without a third significant market, he said. “We've got to focus in on what that potential market is going to be.”
Sablan said of China flights, “Despite all the conversations about how they're not there, they're there. They spent $195 billion last year. The next market in the world is U.S. at $150 billion. And it's not just by sheer number. It's by individual spend.”
“We would like to see us look at tourism as the opportunity. Tourism from China, tourism from Japan, tourism from Korea, Taiwan, all markets are open. We need them all to come. And then the opportunities for diversifying hopefully will also play out,” he said.
The MVA membership meeting at Kensignton Hotel Saipan was well attended. Photos by Mark Rabago.
Ivan Quichocho, vice president of Tan Holdings; said MVA and HANMI want the return of the exemption of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Part 213 Order 2023-6-1 that limits the number of passenger flights from China to the U.S. to a little over 24 flights a month. “Please support the approval of Annex 6 and let's embrace commerce with China, not conflict. The EVP-TAP (CNMI Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program) is operational, functional. It's doing its job. And I just saw news breaking today that the Coast Guard is now ramping up the entire fleet to patrol the waters and keep out illegal immigration. So, the federal government is doing their job.”
The EVS-TAP would allow visa-free travel for pre-screened travelers from China to the CNMI, much like the former discretionary parole program but with more stringent checks.
During the presentation on the South Korea market, Koo said despite the recent Jeju Air tragedy and the political upheaval in South Korea brought about by the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, they still project that visitor arrivals will go up 9% from 177,941 to 193,193 for fiscal 2025.
This is based on air seat forecast with increased scheduled flights and charter flights from Seoul, a minimum of two weekly flights from Busan (29,172 seats), and a minimum of 24 flights and 4,458 seats from Cheongju (plus extra charter flights during high season).
Koo said, ultimately, the final goal for MVA Korea is to increase airlift, increase arrivals, increase dollars spendings, and increase total expenditure from the South Korea market.
“So, we are confident that the market will recover,” she said. On the eve of the Jeju Air 2216 crash Dec. 29, there were 2,000 cancellations for the Saipan trip, but Koo said since then South Koreans are slowly booking flights to Saipan via Jeju Air again.
Yu said his company, Dentsu Inc., has been tasked to revive the NMI market in Japan. Having been appointed as MVA’s offshore office for Japan in September, Yu said Dentsu will utilize its considerable resources and expertise at its disposal to bring back Japanese tourists to the NMI.
He said Dentsu does “business in more than 120 markets and we have more than 70,000 employees all over the world,” adding that Dentsu has more than 12,000 clients worldwide.
Yu said part of Dentsu’s strategy in marketing the NMI to the Japanese visitor market is learning from the success of a small island destination in Okinawa named Miyakojima, which is two and a half hours from Tokyo by plane compared to Saipan’s three hours.
“Something is happening to Japanese [tourists that are making them] look for islands [for vacation],” he said. This resort trend started during the COVID-19 pandemic since overseas travel was essentially banned in Japan and in most countries, Yu said.
He said another campaign is the Mariana-san Name Trip Campaign. “I don't know if you all know, but there's lots of Japanese girls' names that are related to the Marianas. For example, Mari-san, Maria-san, Ria-san, Riana-san, Mana-san, Anna-san, you know? Japanese people are really related to this pronunciation, Mariana, but they don't know where it is.” Yu said most of the Japanese people only know about Saipan, but they don't know about the island of the [Northern] Marianas, so the campaign will raise awareness of the chain’s name.
Yu also talked about tie-ups with global brands like Toyota (Tomodachi Marianas campaign) and Beams, a Japanese clothing brand that fancies itself as more of a culture store. He also said a delegation from Hiroshima arrived in Saipan Jan. 22 to help plan the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombings. He said that ties to one of Dentsu’s marketing plans for the Japan market on historical/memorial facets of the NMI, along with diving and sports tourism. mbj
