Japanese arrivals fall 10% in October

The controversial travel advisory issued by the Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in September has apparently taken its toll on the CNMI tourist industry, pulling down the number of visitors ferried by Japan Airlines by 10 percent in October.

However, JAL officials emphasized that intensified promotion on domestic tourism in Japan and the lack of activities on the island were the major reasons behind the plunge in the overall number of Saipan-bound Japanese travelers last month.

A report obtained from the airline company disclosed arrivals from Tokyo dropped seven percent in October 2000 to 9,904 from last year of the same month’s 10,656 Saipan-bound travelers who were ferried by the Japanese flag carrier.

At the same time, Saipan-bound JAL passengers from Osaka caved in 12 percent from 5,481 in October 1999 to only 4,823 this year. The number of charter passengers plunged 43 percent from 572 to 326 last month.

JAL-Saipan sales manager Yasuyoshi Kinoshita said weather on Japan is usually conducive to domestic tourism during the month of October. “It is not too hot and not too cold. It is also the time when leaves turn red and yellow so it’s really a good season back there.”

Mr. Kinoshita added numerous sports festivals and other activities are normally being held by Japanese schools during the month of October which also contribute to the lesser number of outbound travelers.

“October is the time when Japanese people don’t go out to foreign countries, it is the time when most of them travel within Japan; visit tourist sites in the country,” he told in an interview.

This, even as the airline executive admitted that the absence of tourism-related activities on Saipan last month had also contributed to the overall decline in the number of Japanese visitors to the island.

“Maybe we need to plan a special event so people will have more reasons to come to Saipan. We should be planning ahead for the activities that we will hold next year with the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Japan-Saipan Travel Association,” he said.

But JAL remains optimistic demand for more airline seats will pick up this month and in December as it gears up for the deployment of seven additional flights from major cities in the country to Saipan.

Mr. Kinoshita disclosed the airline company is deploying three extra flights, in addition to its regular air transport services, from Nagoya and Fukuoka in Japan to the Northern Marianas this month.

JAL is also dispatching four additional flights from Kansai, Nagoya and Fukuoka in December in anticipation of the increase in the number of Saipan-bound travelers from Japan during the holiday season.

The airline executive added JAL intends to use either a Boeing 767 aircraft, which can seat up to 230 passengers, or DC-10 airplane that can accommodate up to 260 passengers in all of its additional flights from the Japanese cities to Saipan.

Japan Airlines has been consistently flying between major cities in the country and Saipan on a high load factor as it deployed aircraft that are about 85 to 90 percent filled with passengers.

JAL has dispatched three additional flights from two heavily-populated Japanese cities — Kansai and Nagoya — in September, ferrying close to 600 passengers to Saipan.

Two of the three extra flights were deployed from Nagoya while one ferried passengers from Kansai, said Mr. Kinoshita, pointing out that the additional services were spurred by stronger demand in September which has more national holidays in Japan.