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MVA renews Japan advertising contract
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Posted on Mar 25 2005
The Marianas Visitors Authority has decided to renew its contract with a Japanese advertising company, amid concerns over the declining arrivals from the Northern Marianas’ primary tourism market.
MVA managing director Vicky I. Benavente said the agency had received approval from the Division of Procurement and Supply to renew its deal with Asatsu DK, whose $921,000 initial contract expired on Dec. 31, 2004.
Benavente said the new contract is now being routed for signatures and will take effect immediately. The term will end on Sept. 30, 2006.
MVA was not able to renew ADK’s contract earlier after the money supposedly for the advertising company was shifted to the opening of the China market as well as MVA’s participation in a travel fair sponsored by the Japan Association of Travel Agents.
Benavente said about $450,000 of ADK’s funds remained available.
The MVA board of directors, however, instructed management to find resources and negotiate a deal with ADK for the contract renewal, in view of the decreasing arrivals from Japan.
Asatsu DK was responsible for developing and implementing MVA’s advertising activities within the Japan market, as well as overseeing the production and updating of the tourism agency’s website.
Another company, Marketing Garden Ltd., provides MVA with marketing and public relations services within Japan.
Arrivals from Japan posted a double-digit decline last month, reaching only 30,040 visitors—a 15-percent drop compared with the same month last year.
MVA attributed the decline to changes in types of aircraft being used by airlines servicing the Japan-Saipan route.
Seat capacity from Tokyo alone decreased by 28 percent, MVA said.
Japan Airlines changed its aircraft from 747 to DC-10 on its daily flights from Tokyo to Saipan. Northwest Airlines continues to use a 747 aircraft for its flights from Tokyo but with a different seat configuration from 430 seats to 350 seats.
The number of seats from Nagoya also experienced a reduction of 48 percent, compared with the same month the previous year. The number of daily flights from this region was cut from two flights to one flight, when Continental Airlines terminated direct flights from Nagoya to Saipan in April 2004.
