‘Japan market is struggling’
The CNMI’s Japan market, largely due to circumstances completely out of the CNMI’s control, is severely struggling, with just a little over 800 visitors coming last December, according to Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Chris Concepcion.
He said in a recent interview that he had just met with the CNMI’s partners in Japan to discuss challenges and struggles and they determined that the CNMI is struggling to revive the Japan market, similar to the experience of other destinations.
“The Japan market is definitely struggling. This isn’t just a CNMI thing. The Japan market’s outbound travel is down. This is for Hawaii, Guam, the CNMI, and the rest of the world. They’re not traveling outbound as much as they were pre-COVID. It’s a challenge for all destinations. They are coming, they are still our second largest tourist market after Korea. Granted Korea makes up about 82% of our total portfolio, but we are very pleased that we at least have a presence in Japan,” he said.
Concepcion said MVA is committed to rebuilding this market.
“The yen to dollar [currency exchange] hopefully improves. This would provide a rise in arrivals. It is currently 148 yen to a dollar, so it makes it very expensive for the Japanese to travel to Saipan and anywhere in the U.S. That’s a big challenge. For December, we had 888 arrivals from Japan versus 16,000 from Korea and 500 from China so it’s still No. 2, but a far distant No. 2. It’s been a major challenge for us to rebuild the Japan market, but it is something that the board and MVA is heavily focused on rebuilding. We’ve always been hesitant to focus on other markets,” he said.
One of the major advantages the CNMI has in terms of rebuilding the Japan market, Concepcion said, is the weekly direct flights from Tokyo to Saipan.
“We have direct flights and this is just something we will continue to work with. The market will improve as the Japan economy improves. We met with United Airlines and Skymark Airlines to discuss industry updates to see where things are going. United currently operates three weekly flights from Tokyo to Saipan,” he said.
Concepcion added that MVA has already started to tackle some challenges faced by tourists arriving to the CNMI. MVA has already requested a possible schedule shift in airline schedules to allow tourists to make the most of their day immediately after arriving on Saipan, he said.
“We discussed some issues and challenges we are facing in regards to their schedule but that is still under review with United’s headquarters in Chicago. We hope to hear from them in the next few weeks on whether they are able to shift their timing so flights depart and land in the daytime. That would help the market. Today, the schedule is challenging. You arrive at 2am and it’s pretty late and you’re paying a room for one night already, which means you just missed 11 hours of your hotel time,” he said.
Christopher A. Concepcion
