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MVA prepares marketing strategy for 2001
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Posted on Jul 03 2000
Despite its limited budget, the Marianas Visitors Authority will find a way to carry out niche marketing campaign in its promotional plan in Fiscal 2001 as it prepares for a marketing strategy that will be presented to members of the tourism industry.
MVA’s budget for FY 2001 has been pegged by the Legislature at $6 million but the tourism agency was originally seeking an $8 million appropriation so that it could fully implement an effective promotional campaign at this time when there is a cutthroat competition to get a bigger slice of the market.
MVA Managing Director Perry Tenorio said the $6 million budget will only allow a general promotion for the Northern Marianas in Japan, its main source of visitors. But the MVA has plans to target specific groups such as family market, dive market and the retirees.
“We just have to make do with what has been given to us. This is just the reality that we have to live with right now since revenue is still down,” he said.
For this fiscal year, MVA has created the summer campaign promotion “Happy Children in Paradise” which started on June 1 through Sept. 30 focusing on a number of travelers that now fall into the “family category.”
Children under the age of 12 would be the key element in the campaign for their parents to consider the Northern Marianas as a perfect destination to suit their summer travel plans.
MVA has hired Tokyo-based Dentsu Inc. to help the CNMI in its promotional campaign in Japan by placing advertisements in newspapers, magazines and television programs.
It also introduced the Sai-panda character, the island’s mascot, to help differentiate Saipan from other destinations such as Guam and Hawaii. The Sai-panda concept was created to address and capture a large and more encompassing general visitor segments.
