JAL executive bids Saipan goodbye

Japan Airlines’ administrative manager for Saipan vowed to continue promoting the Northern Marianas in Japan, as he bade goodbye yesterday to the island where he had worked and made friends in the last four years.

Yasuyoshi Kinoshita left at 3:50pm yesterday aboard a JAL flight bound for Tokyo, where he will be taking on a new job with the airline. He was sent off by JAL Saipan regional manager Shinichi Yoshida, Japanese consul Takeo Saito, and members of the Saipan-based Japanese Executive Business Committee.

Hours before his departure, Kinoshita received a certificate of appreciation from the Marianas Visitors Authority for his over four years of active involvement in promoting the islands to tourists.

“I feel very sad. The years went really fast. I appreciate all the CNMI people for teaching me island hospitality,” Kinoshita told the Saipan Tribune in an interview.

Kinoshita, who arrived on Saipan in April 2000, noted that the past four years have been challenging for the travel industry, with the Sept. 11, 2001 bombing attacks and last year’s SARS outbreak and Iraq conflict all happening in succession.

He added that he was pleased that he would be leaving at a time when the industry’s recovery is underway.

Kinoshita also assured acting MVA managing director Martin Duenas that he would continue to assist the tourism agency in its marketing efforts in Japan by promoting the island during travel fairs, among other things.

“I will help not just MVA, but everyone from the CNMI tourism industry, including the hotels, golf facilities, diving shops,” he said.

He also urged the tourism agency to introduce more tourist sites to keep the interest of returning visitors.

“Right now, we only take tourists to Banzai Cliff, Suicide Cliff, American Memorial Park and Managaha. But Saipan is a very nice place and there are a lot of other sites that can be developed. Just this year, I found new sightseeing points in the island that only local people probably knew about,” Kinoshita said.

He related that he did not used to know how to get to Forbidden Island, but with the new improvements made to the road leading to it, he was finally able to see the island for himself.

There is also another place near Kingfisher Golf Links in Talafofo that he discovered only recently, he said.

Kinoshita has been with Japan Airlines since 1987. He worked as administration officer at the Nagoya and Haneda airports in Japan before coming to Saipan.