Visitor arrivals up 17 pct. in Dec.

December 2014 visitor arrivals to the Northern Mariana Islands rose 17 percent compared to December 2013, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority. Arrivals to the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota registered 44,910 visitors in December 2014, compared to 38,352 visitors received in December 2013.

Arrivals from Korea soared 43 percent in December to 19,485 visitors, positioning Korea as the No. 1 source of visitors to the NMI in December and the largest monthly increase for the Korea market in 2014. Targeting the winter high season, Asiana Airlines operated additional flights to Saipan from Seoul four times a week beginning Dec. 2 using an Airbus A320 with 171 seats. The strong upward trend in Korean arrivals is expected to continue throughout the winter season with additional seats coming online. Jeju Air is also planning to open an FIT lounge on Saipan in January to provide better service to its rapidly growing number of Korean customers to the CNMI.

Arrivals from China grew 34 percent in December to 12,886 visitors. In 2015, the MVA continues to work with Century Tours and Tinian Dynasty to launch a variety of marketing programs in support of China charter flights. The MVA is also launching co-ops with Brand USA to host a joint travel trade road show as well as influential trade show to promote the CNMI targeting Lunar New Year from Feb. 18-24.

Arrivals from Japan fell 12 percent to 9,942 visitors in December. Air seat supply in December dropped by 19 percent compared to December 2013 as Asiana Airlines operated three charters in December as opposed to 11 in December 2013, which led to the decrease in air seats from Osaka by 1,593 seats. Japan Airlines operated two direct charter flights from Chubu Centrair International Airport on Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 using B737 aircraft, providing 288 additional seats with all seats sold exclusively by JTB World Vacations.

Arrivals from Russia fell 71 percent to 422 visitors in December as a result of the suspension of direct flights in August. Russia’s economic instability and collapsing Russian ruble have caused a dramatic fall in demand for international travel from Russia. Despite these challenges, the MVA is in discussions with potential airlift partners to re-establish direct non-stop flights from Russia to the CNMI and is actively working with key Russian travel agents to create new tour packages targeting tourists with higher income who are less responsive to soaring tour prices to the NMI as a result of the collapsing currency.

Economic highlights

During the first half of December, the Japanese yen depreciated slightly against the dollar, from 117.33 yen to the dollar at the end of November, to 119.76 yen as of Dec. 31. JTB has predicted that Japanese outbound travel will increase 0.4 percent to 17 million in 2015, and the average spend on overseas trips will increase 2.0 percent.

Korea’s real gross domestic product (chained volume measure of GDP) grew by 0.9 percent in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter and matched advanced estimates. The South Korean won/dollar exchange rate rose 9.54 won over the past month to close at 1096.73 against the U.S. dollar. During December, the won continued to weaken on the dollar’s strength.

The National Bureau of Statistics said China’s consumer prices grew by 1.4 percent year-on-year in November, the slowest increase in five years. November’s consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, dipped 0.2 percent against the previous month, while data remained flat in October. The value of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened by 17 basis points to 6.1247 against the U.S. dollar in its central parity rate, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System. Meanwhile, the China Tourism Academy recently released its China Travel Agency Industry Development Report 2014. According to the report, the core position of traditional travel agencies in the China tourism economy is weakening; the market’s preference is moving toward FIT travel and the development of online travel is contributing to this shift.

From Dec. 16 to Dec. 22 consumer prices in Russia increased by a record breaking 0.9 percent, exceeding the average increase for one week in November by three times. According to Rosstat, from the beginning of December the prices increased by 1.7 percent and from the beginning of the year by 10.4 percent. The annual inflation in Russia in 2014 is estimated at 11.5 percent. The Russian currency remains unstable against the dollar, recording 56.24 rubles to dollar on Dec. 31. (MVA)