Visitor arrivals slightly up in December

Visitor arrivals reached 44,325, or an increase of 2.79 percent, in December 1999 compared to the same period the previous year, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority.

Korea has consistently led the growth with a significant increase of 43 percent. Japan, the CNMI’s biggest market did not show any growth with a total visitor arrivals of 32,080 in December 1999 compared to the same period in the previous year, despite the millennium packaged tours.

But MVA said the flat growth may be attributed to the decline in ship arrivals that brought in 1,262 passengers compared to 2,232 in December 1998. Traditionally, December is a peak period for ship arrivals, however there were cancellations due to the Y2K bug.

This developed as Japan Airlines announced the streamlining of its operations by transferring more international routes to its subsidiary, the JALways. Beginning April 1, all daily flights on the Guam routes from Narita, Kansai and Nagoya will be operated by JALways, a low-cost subsidiary which will also operate the daily Saipan route from Narita and Osaka starting Oct. 1.

A survey conducted by Japan Travel Bureau projected a drop in the number of overseas traveler at the year-end/New Year season by 72,000 for the third consecutive year due to the following reasons:

• Unfortunate sequence of holiday dates, making it difficult to take a long uninterrupted break.

• The millennial celebrations and the Y2K problem have reduced the number of package tours available to fewer than in a normal year.

• A significant increase in visitor arrivals from Korea resulted in the highest growth rate of 43 percent. This was encouraged by continued recovery of the Korean economy and celebration of the New Year holiday.

Asiana Airlines had seven extra flights to accommodate the increase travel demand from honeymooners and family travelers from Seoul and Pusan. MVA carried out promotional activities that fueled continued jump in visitor arrivals from Korea, including internet marketing where a quiz campaign was conducted in a website and a golf event organized by the Korean tourism office that brought in 80 golfers plus family members. Winners in the quiz campaign won various prizes, including a free round trip ticket to Saipan.

Arrivals from Taiwan plunged 71 percent, China and Hong Kong declined 54 percent and 17 percent, respectively.