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MVA partners with TripAdvisor to promote NMI
The Marianas Visitors Authority got the go-signal Tuesday to work with TripAdvisor, a popular travel website company that provides reviews on destinations, accommodation, restaurants, and other aspects of traveling.
The board has approved the MVA management’s request to expand its online presence by working with TripAdvisor.
MVA members, which include several business entities in the tourism industry such as hotels, restaurants, and others, will undergo a workshop to educate the members on how to handle their online reputation through TripAdvisor.
“We are very happy to bring them to the CNMI because [TripAdvisor] has a huge network,” said MVA managing director Chris Concepcion, adding that MVA has allocated $200,000 for the workshop.
“We want to train the tourism industry here and how they manage their online presence,” he said.
Concepcion believes that hotels and restaurants in the CNMI could compete at a “world-class level, where you attract people through marketing while managing your online reputation and content.”
The TripAdvisor workshop would also educate the members on how to tackle problems brought up by their guests.
“It makes them want to fix the problem. We need that here in the CNMI because we need everybody to improve their product,” Concepcion said.
According to him, the workshop is the start of a nine-month partnership with TripAdvisor, who would be advertising the CNMI online through its website. Funding for this is included in the $200,000 that MVA has allocated.
Though the date of the workshop has yet to be finalized, Concepcion said he plans to hold the workshop around August or September this year.
Also included in TripAdvisor’s services is a guest’s ability to rate a destination, a feature of TripAdvisor that provides a “great image for the CNMI.”
“This also provides good incentive for businesses to get on board and learn how to manage their online presence so they can continue to improve their product,” he said, adding that about seven to eight hotels under the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands are actively monitoring their ratings and feedback.
