Visitor arrivals dip 14 pct in June 2018

As projected by the Marianas Visitors Authority, total visitor arrivals to The Marianas for the fiscal year are showing a dip compared to the same period last year at 458,960 visitors, 4.7 percent off last year’s mark.

Visitor arrivals to The Marianas fell 14 percent in June 2018 compared to June 2017 in the first full month of no direct flights from Japan. Arrivals to the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota registered 47,341 visitors in June 2018, compared to 55,096 visitors received in June 2017.

Arrivals from Korea dropped 14 percent to 24,018 visitors, yet the country retained its position as the top performing source market. This decline is largely due to fewer flights than in June 2017 from both Seoul-Incheon and Busan. T’way Air continued its daily schedule that it resumed in June and has also announced plans to operate additional charter flights with a combined 1,500+ seats from Sept. 21-29 during Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving holiday week. Also, Jeju Air will launch daily charter flights from Aug. 3 until Sep. 2.

Arrivals from China grew 3 percent compared to June 2017 to 20,111 visitors despite strong competition from other island destinations and a pre-summer vacation slump in travel. Arrivals from China were bolstered by steady airlift and promotional activities including participation in

Shanghai World Travel Fair and Hong Kong International Travel Expo, a Hong Kong media FAM tour, a travel blogger FAM trip, and other activities with tourism partners in May. Arrivals are anticipated to hold steady with a balance of demand and air service.

Arrivals from Japan dropped 87 percent lower than June 2017 to 483 visitors. The decline is attributed to the pullout of direct daily flights by Delta Air Lines in early May 2018 and the sharp reduction of daily flights from Saipan to Guam for Japanese passengers arriving on United Airlines. However, a small uptick in arrivals in anticipated with 29 summer charter flights in July and August and increased promotions of convenient connection times to Saipan from Japan via Seoul. Daily flights from Japan will be launched by Skymark Airlines in the coming months, and the MVA is in direct discussion with other airlines to operate seasonal charters during the early winter schedule.

“As we’ve shared before, we have forecasted that the suspension of regular daily flights from Japan would result in a slight decline in overall visitor arrivals, and we felt the full impact of that in June,” said MVA managing director Christopher A. Concepcion. “In the meantime, we have a series of summer charter flights now starting, and we will have regular flight service again within several months. The Marianas remains committed to the revival of the Japan market, and we continue to work diligently on getting daily flights restored”

Concepcion said the MVA is also pursuing opportunities to expand its market diversification.

“Building on the work of our representative office in Taiwan over the last few years to get more Taiwanese interested in travelling to The Marianas, we are now in negotiations with an interested airline to provide direct service from Taipei to Saipan,” said Concepcion. “While most of our visitors from Taiwan have been arriving via Hong Kong or Korea, this would be a tremendous opportunity to increase arrivals from this market and provide greater stability for the tourism economy. We hope we can reach an agreement soon.”

Source markets economic highlights
South Korea central bank data showed that the country’s economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the first quarter because of sluggish construction and facilities investment. The average USD/WON exchange rate in June was 1087.28 won, a slight increase from the previous rate of 1075.14 won in May.

In Japan, the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 2.2 percent in May of 2018 from 2.5 percent in the previous month. It is the lowest jobless rate since October 1992. Bank of Japan left its key short-term interest rate unchanged at -0.1 percent at its June 2018 meeting, which was widely expected. (PR)