Teno: NMI’s participation in tourism fair a success

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday considered CNMI’s participation in a tourism and travel fair in Japan “successful” as he appealed to several Japanese tour operators to help the government entice travelers to the island.

He said he had met with travel agents and key officials in Tokyo during the week-long event organized by Japan Association of Travel Agents or JATA to personally ask their assistance.

Attended by over a hundred countries and considered the largest gathering of Japan’s travel industry, the fair allowed the CNMI to join Guam and other Micronesian islands in promoting the region’s tourism industry.

“We met with some travel agents and we asked them if they could continue to assist us in trying to bring more people to the CNMI,” Mr. Tenorio told reporters in an interview.

The governor, however, declined to provide specific details on how the CNMI fared in the tourism gab, saying only that JATA was very “important” because it covers the whole country — the world’s second largest economy and by far the highest per capita in terms of overseas travels.

“The conference was very successful. We, the CNMI. Guam and Micronesia, were in one place and it was very successful,” he said.

Likewise, he was optimistic over the continued assistance by airlines in servicing the Northern Marianas, particularly Continental Airlines which pledged to help the government spur the local tourism industry in their discussion last week.

Mr. Tenorio earlier had expressed disappointment over exclusion of the CNMI in one of the marketing campaigns on Western Pacific island destinations of the Houston-based airline.

Continental, the largest carrier in Micronesia, had apologized for what it said was an “unintentional omission,” noting that joint promotions with Marianas Visitors Authority continue.

“We discussed the issue and we told them that we should work together to promote the CNMI,” said the governor.

Mr. Tenorio led the island delegation to the JATA fair, a biennial event that attracts participation of countries all over the world who have been competing for a piece of the lucrative Japanese market.

Reports released during the conference have buoyed hopes by CNMI officials of continued increase in Japanese tourist arrivals to the island in the next few months as experts predict that overseas travels will grow.

House Speaker Diego T. Benavente the other day said the Commonwealth should be prepared with the hotel rooms and the infrastructure to accommodate the anticipated surge in Japanese tourists.

The local tourism industry, NMI’s economic lifeblood, has suffered heavily over the past two years as the number of Japanese and Korean visitors had dropped by almost 20 percent, pulling down government revenues and forcing closure of nearly 2,000 tourist-related businesses.