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‘Reposition CNMI as more upgraded destination’
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Posted on Dec 01 2005
Participants in the recently held Japan-Marianas Tourism Club meeting on Saipan agreed with the concept of repositioning the CNMI “as a more upgraded travel destination” for Japanese.
This is one of the objectives listed under the 2006 marketing plan for Japanese market discussed during the Nov. 24, 2005 JMTC meeting.
The report said this approach would ensure that package prices could be set at a higher price point.
Other recommendations include increasing seat capacity between Japan and the CNMI, stimulating travel demand to the CNMI with “a new set of key messages”, and carrying out specific marketing programs targeting new target segments.
These target audiences are tourists in their 20s with less travel experience but with nature interest, young families, above 30’s in higher income bracket and with nature interest, as well as active seniors.
Part of the marketing strategies is to work with “influential media [in Japan] to feature the CNMI.
“Aim to create more media coverage with high-end story angles,” said the report. The Japan-Marianas Tourism Club meeting is held every year to discuss issues and concerns affecting the destination.
The JMTC, formed in 1998, consist of top travel wholesalers from Japan.
The JMTC participants include Holiday Tours Micronesia, Nippon Travel Agency, Pacific Micronesian Tours, R&C Tours, Northwest Airlines, and Continental Airlines.
This came even as a recent study conducted by the Marianas Visitors Authority showed that 76 percent of surveyed Japanese tourists, after visiting the CNMI, said that they would be willing to pay more—as much as 15 percent—for their package to the CNMI.
MVA said the study included an online survey of over 1,000 potential Japanese travelers to the CNMI regarding their perception of the CNMI.
A focus group communication in Japan was also conducted among office ladies and salary-men who frequently travel to the CNMI “to determine their image of the CNMI on a qualitative basis.”
Further, the MVA said it conducted an exit survey of over 1,000 Japanese at the Francisco C. Ada Saipan International Airport during the period.
