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NMI popular as wedding destination More Japanese couples exchanging ‘I dos’ on Saipan
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Posted on Apr 17 2002
The September 11 terror attacks in the United States recoiled positively to the Northern Marianas, which, along with Guam, has been cited by travelers from Japan as one of the preferred wedding destinations around the world.
This, even as the Japan Travel Bureau disclosed that reservations for honeymoon trips to the islands dropped by 4.6 percent from 95.8 in the 2001 Spring Honeymoon Season to this year’s 93.4 percent.
This may be attributed to the decline in overseas wedding ceremonies during the same season, which dropped from 560 last year to 472 this year.
Hawaii topped the list of wedding destinations this year, cornering 49.8 percent of the market; Guam and the CNMI placed second with a market share of 21.4 percent; and Oceania on third with 17.8 percent share of the market. Asian countries grabbed 1.3 percent of the total market share.
In 2001, the top three destinations were Hawaii, mainland U.S., and Europe. But the influence of the terrorist attacks on the United States has pulled the CNMI and Guam to second place.
The JTB report explained that the decline in the market share previously held by the mainland U.S. and Hawaii was distributed among Australia, the Pacific Islands, and Europe.
The report also noted that Italy maintains its strong popularity among honeymooners, with Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan all placing high in the ranking.
“The fact that Asia has fallen to half of last year’s figure can probably be put down to the fact that the Bali Wedding now appears to be suffering a downward blip in popularity,” the report explained.
The report stated that Hawaii continues to be the most popular honeymoon destination, adding that, although it registered a decline of 5.2 percent compared with figures in 2001, it maintains to be the leading destination for newly-weds.
The JTB report noted that although the number Japanese honeymooners declined by 2.5 percent with 472 in 2002 compared with 560 in 2001, a rapid recovery was seen when overseas wedding ceremonies are scheduled for autumn were booked as early as February.
The JTB survey was conducted in 12 different locations in Japan where 2,692 couples signed up for their honeymoon vacation overseas.
