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MVA stresses need for regular tourist surveys
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Posted on Aug 05 2005
The Marianas Visitors Authority is now placing more emphasis on conducting tourist surveys, which the agency said holds the key to repositioning the Northern Marianas as a higher-value and higher spend destination for tourists.
Yesterday, MVA finished conducting exit surveys at the Saipan International Airport with Japanese tourists who have just visited the islands.
The exit survey, consisted of questionnaires and interviews, forms part of a three-tier research project that MVA is undertaking with the Japanese travel market.
The project also involves a quantitative Internet research of 1,000 travelers throughout Japan who have not yet visited the CNMI. At the same time, MVA is conducting qualitative focus-group interviews with sample travelers in Japan’s capital, Tokyo.
The last CNMI tourism exit survey was done in July and August 2003. The findings made by Market Research and Development—a consulting company hired by MVA to conduct the survey two years ago—remain a huge consideration when MVA analyzes the Japanese and Korean travel markets due to lack of updated and comprehensive information.
According to MVA, the objectives of the market research are:
• To establish price sensitivity of Japanese travelers in response to potential increases in package prices;
• To assess current satisfaction levels of Japanese tourists visiting the CNMI;
• To evaluate current perceptions of the CNMI in Japan; and
• To determine destination enhancements needed in the CNMI.
MVA plans to start compiling the results of the three current projects by the start of next month.
