5TH MARIANAS TOURISM ACADEMY MVA draws lessons from travelers

It was just a short trip to Saipan but it nevertheless gave them a lasting impression of the CNMI as a destination which hopefully would help tourism officials in marketing the island to Japan.

Some 16 travel professionals and writers from Fukuoka Prefecture attended the 5th Marianas Tourism Academy sponsored by Japan Airlines. MVA Board Chairman Dave M. Sablan said working with members of the travel industry would help carry out effective promotional campaign despite limited budget.

“What we are doing now for less amount of money is much more effective, ” he said. A planned television commercial by the tourism office to reach a wider audience is still hanging in the air since it is a very expensive.

MVA decided to focus only on the Fukuoka area because the destination has greatly suffered since the termination of direct flights by Continental Micronesia due to low traffic.

As far as Rie Matsufuji, a representative of Nishitetsu Travel Co. Ltd., is concerned, first time travelers to Saipan like her would find the people very friendly and warm. “There’s just so many of them who speak Japanese. It makes it easy for travelers to roam around the island,” she said.

The long ties of CNMI and Japan is a strong attraction for Japanese to come here. However, Matsufuji said there is not enough information about the island in the Kyushu area, which has been filled with the so many brochures about Asian destinations.

“We need to give the Japanese more information to compete with the resorts in Asia,” she said.

Participated in mostly by travel professionals and writers, MVA decided to focus on Fukuoka, formerly a huge source of tourists from Japan.

Yukimi Uojima from the overseas operations and planning division of Japan Tours System Kyushu Co. Ltd., said Saipan’s clean beaches can be considered the biggest selling point of the CNMI since it is targeting family tour groups. She said the natural beauty of the island — with many areas still undeveloped — is an attraction to many Japanese who want to go on nature trips.

Naoko Matsuda, JAL’s manager for public relations advertising team, agrees that the Japanese traveler who loves to shop is still looking for destinations that can offer a safe haven for tourists.

“Never mind if Guam has more shopping centers because Saipan was able to preserve its natural beauty,” said Matsuda. She said she specifically liked the trip to Managaha island.

Since the CNMI wants to entice Japanese women travelers, Matsuda said a spa in different hotels would help in attracting this market.

Providing the travelers a sense of history would help entice student tour groups to come here, said Sho Minayami, a member of JAL’s international sales.

Availability of optional tours provide visitors a chance to enjoy his/her stay through snorkeling, sunset sailing and diving. “It is not just hopping from one shopping center to another. It really offers fun,” said Minayami.

Only three hours away from Fukuoka, the number one selling point of Saipan is its image as a safe destination.

“For the Japanese this is the biggest factor that will push them to visit a destination. This is a very reasonable destination. Food is very good and prices are still affordable,” said Minayami.

But Matsuda, who does not want to remember the horrors of war, said she would not be interested to see Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff where thousands of Japanese chose to jump to their death than accept defeat.