‘Lack of promo contributes to loss of HK route’

The CNMI’s lack of promotional activities to attract Hong Kong tourists may have contributed to the small traffic from the former British colony, prompting Continental Micronesia to drop Saipan from its Hong Kong route effective November this year.

“I think they could have used additional marketing,” said Continental Micronesia staff vice president for sales and marketing Wally Dias in a recent interview.

He also said that the “inability” of some tour agents to get a hotel booking on Saipan during peak seasons could have led to the lackluster market performance.

There were times during peak season, he said, when travel agents in Hong Kong could not get hotel rooms on Saipan.

“So if you can’t get hotel rooms during peak times, that means the travel agencies would be reluctant to sell you during the peak time because they want to sell to someone that’s going to give them hotel rooms,” he said.

Peak seasons include the Chinese or Lunar New Year in February and the Golden Week—Asian holidays that consist of several consecutive days.

Dias said that some tour agents had complained they could not easily find hotel rooms in the CNMI during peak times; if they do find some, the costs are much higher.

Marianas Visitors Authority officials were not immediately available for comments yesterday.

Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands chairwoman Lynn Knight said tour agents might not have contacts at all the hotels.

“I feel that there are rooms available. I don’t think tour agents have made arrangements with all hotels. I don’t think so. They only have packages with a few hotels,” said Knight.

She said that it is about having arrangements with more hotels.

“If you call the hotels directly, you’ll likely get a room,” she said, noting that the monthly room occupancy rate in HANMI member hotels has not exceeded 77 percent this year.

HANMI members have nearly 3,000 hotel rooms. More rooms are available from non-HANMI members.

Dias earlier said that the airline decided to drop Saipan from its Guam-Hong Kong route since majority of the passengers prefer Guam anyway. He said only a minimal number of tourists make a stop on Saipan.

Further, the airline cited the rigid Transportation Security Administration regulation requiring all Guam-bound passengers to get off with their baggage at the Saipan International Airport for full screening, which poses an additional hassle for tourists.

The Saipan-Hong Kong flights end on Nov. 7 this year.

Continental had also announced its decision to stop its Guam-Saipan-Taipei flight by Nov. 1. It cited weak market demand, declining fares, and increasing fuel costs.

August arrival statistics showed that among its markets, the CNMI gets the lowest number of visitors from Hong Kong and Taipei.

The CNMI received less than 1,997 visitors from Hong Kong in fiscal year 2004 and 2,962 in fiscal year 2005. From Taipei, Saipan received 497 in FY 2004 and 2,557 in FY 2005.