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MVA joins Guangzhou International Travel Fair
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- The Marianas Visitors Authority joined the Guangzhou International Travel Fair on Feb. 23-25, 2017. From left are MVA Guangzhou manager Yukee Chen, MVA marketing manager Bruce Bateman, MVA marketing specialist Laura Hsiao, MVA China Office director Roel Bruysters, and MVA Beijing PR manager Flo Shi. (Contributed Photo)
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- Saipan-da clowns around with friends and helps promote the Marianas at the Guangzhou International Travel Fair on Feb. 23-25, 2017. (Contributed Photo)
The Marianas Visitors Authority participated in the 25th Guangzhou International Travel Fair on Feb. 23-25, 2017, at China Import and Export Fair Complex, joining 980 other tourism-related vendors from 51 countries and regions in reaching out to professional buyers and the traveling public. The Marianas also took top honors by winning The Most Popular Island Destination Award.
The MVA was joined by Dynasty Holiday and Century Tours at an exhibition booth, where they shared information on The Marianas with a record 142,300 people who attended the event, 15 percent more than last year’s fair.
“By participating in the Guangzhou International Travel Fair, we showed our abundant tourism resources, cultural customs, local products and diverse variety of activities,” said MVA marketing manager Bruce Bateman. “At the same time, we promoted theme tours, such as honeymoon, senior anniversary tours, parent-child tours and sport tours to further raise awareness and popularity of the Marianas in the South China tourism market and to attract higher yielding tourists to visit Saipan, Tinian and Rota to fully enjoy the beauty of these islands.”
In calendar year 2016, the number of Chinese travelers to the Marianas totaled 208,536, accounting for 39 percent of the total annual visitors and making China the top source market for the year. In 2016, the Marianas ranked fifth in “The top 100 travel destinations where Chinese people are longing to travel to” in a questionnaire survey conducted by China National Tourism Administration. Also last year, the MVA was also awarded The Destination with the Most Potential by the National Tourism Awards.
At GITF, the MVA touted its March series of major sporting events, including the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Saipan, XTERRA Saipan (March 18) and Saipan Marathon 2017 (March 25). Saipan Marathon has been certified by the Association of International Marathons and Distances Races by the International Association of Athletics Federation, which is the mark of sports events that meet full international standards.
The MVA also touted the convenience of travelling to the Marianas. In addition to existing non-stop flights from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong, nearly 20 other cities in China have connections to Saipan with only one stop. (MVA)
