NCLEX market for NMI seen to rise

Ongoing marketing efforts continue in the Philippines as the Marianas Visitors Authority held it second seminar in that country this year.

The CNMI Product Update Seminar, held at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Manila on April 28, 2006, boasted more interest from nursing recruiters. A mixture of interested travel agents and recruiters attended the seminar in efforts to reinvigorate the NCLEX and leisure travel market to the CNMI.

The seminar was held to provide the attendees updated information about the destination.

MVA’s Wayne Pangelinan presented various appeals and attributes of the CNMI as a destination of choice. Also, he highlighted the CNMI as a popular NCLEX testing site.

Pangelinan also focused on the current three flights per week that Continental Airlines provides between Manila and Saipan. He also discussed Visitor Entry Permit issues.

Century Hotel GM Lynn Knight presented the hotel as an ideal property for the NCLEX market, while mentioning Saipan Grand Hotel and Fiesta Resort & Spa offering higher-end products for their clients. She also mentioned the themes the hotels portray to visitors, as it would make the properties more enjoyable.

Knight, who is also the chairwoman of the Hotel Association of the NMI, also spoke on behalf of the association, discussing the renovation of properties and improvements that have been made among its member hotels to provide better quality services and accommodations.

“The MVA held this second seminar to provide an update of the request made at the last seminar that was jointly sponsored by Continental Airlines, GVB and the MVA,” said Pangelinan. “The travel agents and recruiters asked to find a solution to simplifying the communication lines between Immigration and themselves.”

Toward the close of the seminar, the travel agents and nursing recruiters had an opportunity to win valuable prizes through a lucky draw format.

Continental Airlines offered two tickets for this event, while Century Hotel, Aqua Resort Club, and the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino provided gift certificates and other prizes, while PIC Saipan provided giveaways.

“We are grateful for their contribution to our product update seminar and we hope that more properties on island will look at this market as an opportunity to diversify,” said Pangelinan.