Cohen joins Japan market campaign

Insular Affairs deputy assistant secretary David C. Cohen has agreed to fly to Tokyo soon to help sell the CNMI as a tourism destination.

Cohen, who is on island for the Japanese imperial couple’s visit, said in an interview yesterday that he aims to reinforce the CNMI’s marketing campaign in Japan, especially amid the looming pullout of Japan Airlines from the Marianas.

“I will make an effort to make the same stops the governor made to reinforce the message that he has delivered and to be very clear about the Interior or the federal government’s commitment to the economic well-being of the CNMI,” said Cohen.

He said his travel schedule to Tokyo, which would take place after the imperial couple’s visit to Saipan, is being worked out by the Marianas Visitors Authority.

JAL earlier said it may stop all its flights to Saipan by Oct. 1 this year.

Cohen may meet with diplomatic officials such as U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer and Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Ryozo Kato, whom he met over dinner Sunday night on Saipan. The Interior official is also open to meeting with the Ministry of Transportation and Tokyo-based airline company representatives.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta, who led a delegation twice this month to Tokyo, had met with airline executives, Transportation officials, as well as with Schieffer, among others.

Shortly after the second trip to Japan, Babauta announced that Northwest Airlines would launch a new flight between Saipan and Osaka beginning Oct. 1. Northwest currently maintains two daily flights to Saipan from Tokyo and Nagoya.

Babauta recently signed two bills into law that allow incentives to airlines and tour agents.

House Bill 14-338 appropriates $2 million to the Commonwealth Ports Authority “to provide incentives to airlines so that they can remain competitive and defray some of the costs of providing service to the CNMI”; H.B. 14-109 gives the MVA the legal authority to use its funds for promotional activities “in major tourism market such as Japan, that sustain the tourism industry in the Commonwealth.”

The new law also allows MVA to give out cash prizes and discount coupons to travel agents.

The incentive program came after JAL announced its plan to pull out its flights from the region this year. The government said JAL’s decision would result in $80 million to $100 million in losses across the community. This was based on a projection of a 45-percent decline in the number of Japanese tourists.

MVA earlier said that about 400,000 tourists from Japan arrive in the CNMI every year, representing nearly 75 percent of the CNMI’s tourism market.

An average Japanese tourist spends about $500 during his or her stay, which lasts at least three days.