MVA: Nearly half of budget is for offshore campaigns

Nearly half of the Marianas Visitors Authority’s $15.2 million budget for fiscal year 2017 would be used to shore up its marketing campaigns in Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Russia.

MVA managing director Chris Concepcion shared this as guest speaker in the Rotary Club of Saipan’s weekly meeting at Hyatt Regency Saipan on Tuesday.

“Forty-nine percent—about $7.9 million—of our budget is going to fund our offices in Japan, China, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, and Russia. With the transition in Japan and China to new companies that represent the MVA, a big part of our focus, my focus in particular, is to ensure the transition is smooth, and so far so good,” said Concepcion.

Concepcion also said that along with the main focus of offshore offices, MVA’s budget would also be used for funding annual signature events, sporting events, certification programs, destination enhancements, and even research, which includes valuable statistics for future feasibility studies.

He projected a bright future for the CNMI, a future that is beneficial to the islands economically.

“We expect good, better, brighter things to happen for the CNMI in the next few years, and I think we’re on a good path. Things are picking up here economically, and we can see it. Economic activity is really growing big time, and this trend is going to continue,” he said.

With the economic boom the CNMI is now facing, Concepcion fears that a lack of accommodation would possibly bottleneck the economic growth.

“A big concern of ours is hotel room availability. We’ve reached saturation point where hotels pretty much year-round have no low or high season. They’re full. So very good for the hotels, very good for the economy, good for the MVA, but in order to bring in more tourists, we need more hotels rooms to open so that new airlines could come in,” said Concepcion.

According to Concepcion, MVA is now targeting Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Russia as a group, delegating $2.9-million and representing the MVA through AVIAMARKETING Reps, along with the rekindling of the Japanese market representing the MVA through Access Inc., with a $2.5 million contract, and mainland China and Hong Kong serviced through Skywalker Communications via a $1.9-million contract.