Expedia, MVA partner to promote CNMI as destination

The Marianas Visitors Authority is currently working on a partnership with Expedia in an effort to promote the CNMI now that weekly flights from Japan to Saipan have launched. 

Last Monday, MVA officials traveled to Japan to meet with Expedia’s Maho Ueda, Business Development manager for Northeast Asia; and Saori Suzuki, senior media specialist. 

Following last Monday’s meeting, MVA and Expedia officially established a partnership and have agreed to collaborate and work together to ensure they work together in promoting the CNMI, not just for the recent promotional push, but for the long haul.

As of Thursday, Expedia has begun its campaign to promote the CNMI. 

During the meeting, Travel Investment Resumption Plan chair Ivan Quichocho discussed the Y10,000 agency incentive and discussed Expedia’s platform and how to track sales so that Expedia can be paid for the incentives. 

The Y10,000 agency incentive means travel agents will get a Y10,000 incentive for all travels booked to Saipan.

Discussions were also had about how best to approach Expedia’s participation in promoting the CNMI. 

“MVA is committed to working with Expedia on ways to ensure there is a great working relationship between Expedia and the CNMI,” Quichocho said. 

In addition, Quichocho explained that there currently are sea-air-land promotional activities for Japanese tourists in place. 

The promotion will provide for free scuba diving (sea), golfing (land), or skydiving (air) for anyone booking a flight to the CNMI. 

“Expedia commented that the CNMI’s promotional packet is very generous and are hopeful that it will lead to a successful campaign. The free Air-Sea- Land promotion will create a lot of chatter for tourists,” Quichocho relayed. 

For Expedia’s part, the platform representatives shared that they conducted a study of their users and learned that tourists are more interested in destinations that showcase nature. 

They also shared some results from their online platform for the Micronesia region. 

In response to this, Quichocho explained the natural beauty of the CNMI and how it is comparable or even better than other destinations in the Pacific. Some of the points made by Quichocho were Saipan’s pristine golf courses, Tinian’s many dive spots, and Rota’s array of flora and fauna. 

Meanwhile, MVA also managed to establish a partnership with Reiwa Travel DBA Newt, an online tourism promotional platform company. 

Newt, in the form of an online app, will feature, promote, and market the CNMI as a destination. The company’s local operator is TASI tours. Newt and TASI have real time access to booking hotels and optional tours. 

The company has already signed up for the incentive program to help sell the CNMI as a destination. 

According to MVA, company officials of both platforms have been invited to join the next Familiarization Tour so they can personally experience all that the CNMI has to offer.