Doors open to China market

After taking some strides to penetrate the Chinese tourism market, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is now biding its time until it’s ready to accept the anticipated visitors.

But the Marianas Visitors Authority has positioned itself for a pre-emptive strike on the market with the opening of four new offices in China.

Wayne Pangelinan, the CNMI tourism agency’s marketing manager, said the agency, in a partnership with New York-based marketing and advertising firm Ruderfinn Asia Inc., has opened offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, positioning itself to analyze trends and create partnerships with various tourism corporations.

But the ball’s in the CNMI government’s court right now, said CNMI Representative Ray Yumul, chairman of the Committee on Commerce and Tourism for the CNMI Legislature. Yumul was the guest speaker at yesterday’s Pacific Asia Travel Association Micronesia general assembly meeting.

Yumul said the word from CNMI Gov. Juan Babauta’s office is that the CNMI can expect to receive approved destination status from the Chinese government in late July or August.

Yumul said the Chinese government has openly stated they are ready to grant the status, but the CNMI is holding off on accepting the status until the government analyzes whether the infrastructure for Saipan, Tinian and Rota is capable of supporting the new market.

“We want to make sure our infrastructure and our hotels are up to par,” Yumul said. “Also, we have our own security concerns as well. We do not want to open ourselves to something like SARS.”

Yumul said the hospital facilities must be ready to quarantine visitors with the possibility of a SARS outbreak.

According to Marianas Visitors Authority statistics, visitors from mainland China are the third strongest CNMI market, after Japan and South Korea. As of April this fiscal year, the Northern Marianas has welcomed 14,558 Chinese visitors, not including more than 1,000 from Hong Kong.

The opening of the MVA offices is a big step toward penetrating the Chinese market. However, without the approval of the Chinese government, the agency’s room for work is limited.

“We can only do so much,” Pangelinan said. “We are not yet an approved destination so we’ve only been doing public relations work.”

Pangelinan said the agency, through the China offices, has been able to hold seminars for travel agents and form business relationships with Chinese airlines. Currently, China Southern Airlines is the only Chinese airline that services the CNMI.

Pangelinan said the impending pullout of the garment industry, which is currently half of the CNMI’s economy besides tourism, adds to the urgency of having a new batch of visitors from another market. (PDN/PIR)