US Navy visits boost April arrivals

Without the visits of the US Navy ship, tourist arrivals in the Northern Marinas would have registered zero growth for the month of April as port calls accounted for the 5 percent of the total 39,294 visitors.

Despite the 6 percent increase in April arrivals compared to the same period last year, the CNMI’s main market, Japan, posted a 2 percent decline, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority.

The slight decline compared to the same period in 1998 can be attributed to losses from the Tokai (Nagoya), Tohoku (Sendai) and Chugoku (Hiroshima) areas.

However, the major region, Kanto, recorded its first increase of 3 percent for the year. The growth was contributed by Japan Air Lines, which reported a 15 percent growth of its direct flight from this region.

The Japanese market is expected to recover fully as Japan Airlines pledged to carry out more independent promotions to save the sagging tourism economy, which has been battered by Asia’s financial crisis. During the recent Golden Week, a total of seven charter flights were made by JAL — one from Osaka, three each from Fukuoka and Nagoya, which saw a 100 percent hotel and resort occupancy during the period.

Members of the Japan Saipan Travel Association have urged MVA to carry out more promotions to increase visibility in the Japanese market. Iwao Sakai, general manager of R&C Tours and president of JSTA, said cheap package tours to Saipan have enticed Japanese travelers to come here during the Golden Week.

Aside from Saipan and Guam, the most popular destinations for Japanese are United States and Hawaii. Even some Japanese hotel executives have recommended more exposures in various cities in Japan since the marketing of CNMI has been limited to newspapers and magazines.

Korea, the second biggest market, continue to show positive growth after arrivals jumped 114 percent. Arrivals from Korea is expected to improve further after Korean Airlines pledged to begin its charter flight before the end of the year.

Since some 1,900 US Navy servicemen arrived here during the month of April, visitors from the United States registered a 21 percent growth. Somewhow, the arrival of US Navy vessels in the past months brought a slight relief to many establishments in the Garapan area as the American personnel spent three to four days visiting the various sites on the island.

The remaining Northeast Asia market region posted increases for the period with arrivals from Taiwan showing the biggest jump of 33 percent. Hong Kong grew 26 percent over the period while arrivals from mainland China registered a slight 5 percent increase.

The reduction in direct flights of Continental Micronesia from various cities in Japan to the CNMI had affected the decision of many Japanese tourists to come here as they are forced to wait for 30 minutes in Guam to take a connecting flight to Saipan.

Tinian has continuously attracted visitors as arrivals rose 286 percent. On the other hand, the decline in tourist arrivals on the island-municipality of Rota has been consistent with only 708 visitors during the month of April.