October visitor arrivals down 4 pct.

October 2011 visitor arrivals to the Northern Mariana Islands were down 4 percent compared to October 2010, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority.

Data released yesterday showed that visitor arrivals to the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota totaled 24,693 in October compared to 25,784 in October 2010.

Arrivals from Japan dropped 23 percent to 8,696. In October the NMI received two daily flights from Narita compared to three daily flights in October 2010. This situation is expected to improve when Delta Air Lines launches a third weekly flight again on Dec. 29, 2011, supplementing the current two daily flights from Narita with four new flights a week using a Boeing 757 with 182 seats. Fly Marianas has announced that it is suspending its sporadic Nagoya-Saipan service beginning Nov. 10, 2011.

Arrivals from the primary market of Korea dropped 9 percent in October to 7,880 arrivals as a result of a 10-percent decrease in total air seats compared to last October.

However, air service from the primary market will improve over the next several months. Asiana Airlines will operate Busan-Saipan charter flights from November 2011 to March 2012, representing a gain of 6,198 seats during this period. Also, Asiana Airlines boosted its Incheon-Saipan service from 10 to 14 weekly flights beginning Oct. 31, and in tandem with the increase in the number of weekly flights to double-daily service, has also increased the size of the aircraft on the route to Boeing 767s with 250 seats each. This will drive an additional 4,491 seats out of Seoul to the CNMI in November. Finally, Asiana has also upgraded its nighttime service to an Airbus 330 with 275 seats from Oct. 1 to Dec. 4, resulting in a gain of 4,312 seats.

The secondary market of China saw 5,134 arrivals in October, a 63-percent increase compared to the same month last year. Arrivals from Russia posted a gain of 32 percent to 485 in October 2011. The MVA also reported a 69-percent growth in arrivals from Hong Kong in October to 108 visitors. Arrivals were also up in October from the United States (13 percent to 864), Guam (2 percent to 1,250), Philippines (26 percent to 54), and Other Areas (1 percent to 222).

Economic highlights

In its October report, the Japanese Cabinet office said that the current economic recovery is expected to continue for the foreseeable future; however, the rebound in industrial production and exports has slowed. The report also indicates, for the first time since November 2010, that firms’ outlook on current business conditions is improving.

A total of 1,645,000 Japanese traveled internationally in September, representing a 6.75-percent increase over the same period last year. As a result, the 2011 year-to-date total (12,525,388) exceeded 2010 (12,493,873) for the first time since the earthquake in March, recording a modest 0.25-percent gain. The Japan National Tourism Organization, which releases the figures, remarked that recovery was swifter than expected, thanks to the strong value of the yen.

Since the earthquake in March, there has been a growing trend toward last-minute bookings as travelers keep one eye on the economy and the other looking for last-minute deals.

A survey by travel industry publication Travel Journal pointed out that even after Sept. 20, more bookings were still coming in for the end of September. As a result, short-haul destinations are selling better than long-haul destinations, due to the inherently shorter planning time. In addition, the Japanese Cabinet office conducted a consumer travel survey and found that travel demand is increasing for the October to December quarter. (MVA)