NMI joins Asia’s largest travel mart in China

Over 2,000 participants visited the CNMI booth during the four-day China International Travel Mart held Nov. 20-23, 2008, at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. CITM is the largest professional travel mart in Asia and draws the attention of people in the tourism industry worldwide.

Marianas Visitors Authority and its two market partners in China, Century Tours and Tinian Dynasty Holiday, manned a large booth at a strategic location near the entrance of the exhibition hall. The booth was decorated with images of the CNMI and featured a sweeping archway and other innovative features. Staff answered inquires and distributed brochures, package flyers, destination CDs, and souvenirs to remind them of the beauties of Saipan, Tinian and Rota.

CITM is organized by the China National Tourism Association, and participants come from all sectors of the travel industry, including international and domestic tourism organizations, travel agencies, hotels, airlines and related travel companies.

Following the success of the travel mart, MVA Managing director Perry Tenorio re-emphasized the importance of the China market for the CNMI tourism industry.

“MVA, Century Tours, and Tinian Dynasty Holiday have been able to get the CNMI’s message out to a large number of important players and consumers in the China travel industry,” said Tenorio. “Based on the Department of Homeland Security’s semi-annual regulatory agenda published this week, we echo the concern of the Governor and legislative leadership about the possible exclusion of the China and Russia markets in the joint Guam-CNMI visa waiver program. MVA and its travel partners will continue to promote travel from this significant, emerging market as long as allowable.”

Leng Bai, MVA marketing specialist for the China market, said: “Following the successful hosting of the Olympic Games, there is a lot of confidence in China’s economy. Century Tours and Tinian Dynasty Holiday chartered Shanghai Airlines to resume the Shanghai-Saipan direct flight in September 2008. However, we know the only way outbound figures to the CNMI from China will increase in 2009 is if we are able to continue the visa waiver program.”

Bai noted that the work of Century Tours and Tinian Dynasty Hotel at CITM resulted in nearly full booking for December charters from Shanghai, an added bonus to the average load factor of 85 percent since late September. During the travel mart, Bai was also interviewed by Metro Express, the most popular daily paper in Shanghai for white-collar workers.

MVA attends travel shows in China, Japan, and Korea. The regular exposure of tourist industry professionals to the many attractions of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota is crucial to raising the awareness of travel markets and to the continued development of the CNMI tourist industry. [B][I](MVA)[/I][/B]