Previous Story
MVA to target repeat Russian visitors
At the recommendation of its Russian Ad Hoc Committee, the Marianas Visitors Authority will target repeat visitors from Russia in its latest promotional campaign.
Ad Hoc Committee chair Elitza Stoilova reported to the MVA Board of Directors last Tuesday that almost all visitors from Russia at this time are repeat visitors. Due to the economic downturn in Russia, extreme devaluation of the Russian Ruble, and the cancellation of direct charter flights in August 2014, visitor arrivals from Russia have stabilized at a lower level, registering 932 visitors this fiscal year compared to 2,760 visitors over the same period last fiscal year.
“The Ad Hoc Committee has shared that repeat visitors are still booking trips to the Northern Mariana Islands, although they may cut their length of stay or level of service,” said MVA managing director Perry Tenorio. “To capitalize on that, we will launch a social media campaign for visitors who have been here before to generate exposure and enthusiasm for the destination among their online friends and contacts in order to bring new guests to Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.”
The MVA approved $10,000 for the contest “Why I Love the CNMI? 5 Reasons We Wish to Go Back” on the MVA’s Russian Facebook page, where visitors will share videos via YouTube of their trip to the Northern Marianas for the chance to win an all-expenses paid vacation in the NMI based on the number of votes received. The contest also aims to generate video content for the MVA to utilize in its other promotions. The video contest is tentatively scheduled to run from April 15 to June 30, 2016.
