Concepcion: We’re looking for new source markets
The Marianas Visitors Authority continues to look for new source markets to boost the CNMI’s tourism arrivals, which have been down 40% as of late.
It’s no secret that the CNMI continues to struggle in terms of boosting tourist arrivals back to pre-COVID 19 levels, hampered in large part by the CNMI government’s decision to pivot away from one of its tourism source market, China, and relying solely on its two other source markets, South Korea and Japan.
In an effort to replace its China market with another source, the MVA is busy looking for new source markets on top of heavily promoting the CNMI in Japan and Korea, according to MVA managing director Chris Concepcion.
“We’re always looking for new source markets. Historically Korea, Japan, and China are always going to be the main pillars of our tourism industry, but, because we are not fully recovered, we are looking for new source markets,” he said.
Concepcion said one of the most viable source markets right now is Malaysia due to visitors from the region not needing a visa to enter the Marianas.
“Malaysia is a potential source market. I foresee that it’s going to be a limited source market, meaning I don’t think it’s ever going to surpass or catch up to the level of Japan, Korea, or China, but it is a part of the Guam/CNMI visa waiver program, so they are able to access the CNMI without a visa,” he said.
Concepcion said MVA has already begun working with the Guam Visitors Bureau to promote the Marianas in that region.
“That’s kind of why we’ve been working with to GVB jointly promote the Marianas to that market,” he said.
Concepcion said the MVA has also been working on tapping the Australia market. However, due to limited resources, the Australia market may not be the most viable market at this time. he added.
“[The Australia market is] another market that does not require a visa to enter the CNMI. They just need the ESTA [Electronic System for Travel Authorization], which is similar to what Japanese and Koreans need to apply for when they enter the CNMI. That’s a little more challenging because there are no direct flights to our region. Developing that market is going to need more resources and time and effort so right now, because resources are limited, we’re going to focus on markets that we think have the strongest potential,” he said.
Last week, MVA hosted the tri-annual Pacific Asia Travel Association-Micronesia Chapter conference fat the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan. After listening to other presenters from other regions within Micronesia, Concepcion said he learned that they too also suffer low arrival trends and continue to struggle in terms of bringing their arrival numbers back up to pre-COVID 19 levels.
Christopher A. Concepcion
