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‘Tourism crisis bringing players together’
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Posted on Jan 27 2006
With the CNMI tourism industry hamstrung by an air service crisis, the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands is pinning its hopes on the government’s efforts to focus more on the industry so it could drive up the number of tourists visiting the islands.
Paradoxically, though, the association views the crisis as one that is bringing local industry players together to weather the impact of the pullout of Japan Airlines’ regular flights to Saipan.
“It’s a difficult time, but industry players are getting together to improve tourism,” said HANMI chair Lynn Knight.
Knight, along with other industry players, attended the presentation of the Pacific Asia Travel Association on its findings in connection with a study aimed at identifying new air route opportunities for the CNMI and Guam.
PATA’s consultant, Airport Strategy & Marketing Limited, made the presentation at the Saipan World Resort Thursday. The MVA and the Commonwealth Ports Authority, together with the Guam Visitors Bureau and the Guam International Airport Authority, asked PATA to conduct the study.
The results of the study were shared among industry players, for the meantime, to be publicly released at a later date.
Knight said the CNMI should continue to tap other tourist markets such as Korea, China, Russia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, especially if the Commonwealth couldn’t get air service back to pre-JAL pullout levels.
Meanwhile, HANMI welcomed the appointment of businessmen Jerry Tan and Tony Pellegrino to the board of directors of the Marianas Visitors Authority.
Describing Tan and Pellegrino as men of integrity and out-of-the-box thinkers, the HANMI leader said the new appointees are excellent choices for the MVA board.
“They both bring to the table a great deal of business experience and they’re both people who actually own tourism-related businesses,” Knight said, adding that Tan and Pellegrino have a great understanding of how the industry works.
