MVA discusses drop of Osaka route

Marianas Visitors Authority board Chairman David M. Sablan has expressed concern that the termination of Osaka-Saipan direct flights would severely hamper efforts to increase the CNMI’s market share in Japan.

Sablan said he is planning to meet with Continental Micronesia executives this week to discuss with them their plans for the Northern Marianas amid the continuous reduction of flights.

“We would like to work with them but we want to know if they plan to cut further the direct flights to Saipan so that we can adjust our marketing plans,” he said.

The Japan-Saipan Travel Association has blamed the cutting down of direct flights from Japan to Saipan as one of the reasons why Japanese visitors have opted to go to neighboring island of Guam. According to the tour operators, Japanese tourists do not want to waste their time waiting for another 30 minutes at the Guam airport just to take a connecting flight to Saipan.

Wally Dias, staff vice president for sales and promotion, said Continental made the decision after the number of passengers from Osaka taking the non-stop and connecting flights to Saipan declined 39 percent.

The termination of four Osaka-Saipan direct flights brings down to seven the number of flights from Osaka to Micronesia via Guam.

“We had to make the necessary adjustments in the Osaka market because the seats especially in the evening flights are empty,” said Dias.

Continental Micronesia’s remaining direct flights to the CNMI are Nagoya-Saipan, Hong Kong-Saipan and Saipan-Guam.

Earlier, representatives from MVA and the Aviation Task Force met with Continental executives in Taipei and Hong Kong where they discussed ways on how to help each other in the promotion of Northern Marianas.

MVA has hired Tokyo-based Dentsu 10 to help promote the CNMI in Japan but due to the shrinking budget, advertisements would only be limited to newspapers and magazines.

While the Japanese economy has shown slight improvement, consumers have remained gloomy in their outlook. Japanese executives who are concerned about their job security, housing loan settlement, children’s education and financial security have become conservative in their spending habits which include overseas travel.

Furthermore, Japanese young travelers have changed their travel pattern as they have become more focused and discriminating in their choice of destinations.