The Northern Marianas might have the opportunity to rebrand itself as a \u201cflower island\u201d if and only if the project pushes through and the required funding is made available to the Marianas Visitors Authority, according to MVA executive director Perry Tenorio.<\/p>\n
Speaking at last week\u2019s MVA general membership meeting, Tenorio said the flower island project would initially target the main tourist destination areas on Saipan.<\/p>\n
Junichi Inada, WIN Landscape Planning and Design managing director and a proposer of the flower island project, told the members present that the flower island project is the CNMI\u2019s way to prosperity.<\/p>\n
Inada cited his project in Singapore when he was the landscape consultant for the Garden City, which changed the island country\u2019s outlook and made it more beautiful and inviting to visitors.<\/p>\n
According to Inada, he was prompted to come up with a proposal for the project after a recent visit to Saipan during which he saw that many of the tourist sites lack beauty, composition, and attraction.<\/p>\n
Inada said the flower island branding concept is a long-term project to rejuvenate and refresh the brand images of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota into that of a beautiful beach resort destination full of green trees and colorful flowers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis flower island project not only aims to rejuvenate the CNMI but also to create an opportunity to enhance landscape improvement into a wide variety of business opportunities,\u201d Inada said.<\/p>\n
Flowers that Inada wants to use include Bougainvillea, Cordyline, hibiscus, orchids, and anthuriums.<\/p>\n
Inada eyes seven zones on Saipan that could be used for the project: the \u201cwelcome zone\u201d at the airport area, the east side called the eco-corridor, the west side called the flower corridor, Managaha Island as the paradise zone, the north side memorials as the flower garden zone, and Mt. Tapochau as the wild flower mountain zone.<\/p>\n
The main highways leading to all major hotels on the east side of Saipan will be called the flower road and will be planted with numerous flowers, while the road to the airport will have a different flower style. The road leading to the island\u2019s upper areas will feature different flowers as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an opportunity that if tourists come in from around the world, they can get lost in the nature and the beauty of the island,\u201d Inada said. \u201cIf we work together in this direction, we will be able to open new page and also realize our dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
MVA board member Jerry Tan noted that Singapore is almost the same size as Guam and that whatever had been done in Singapore can be done here in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
Tan said it is a great idea to retain the nature of the island and that he personally supports Inada\u2019s project.<\/p>\n
Local businessman Del Benson raised concerns, however, that the CNMI doesn\u2019t really have a top organization like Singapore and that the entire CNMI has to buy into it if the project would ever go through.<\/p>\n
Tenorio told Benson that the project was proposed three years ago but was tabled due to limited funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow with the recent increase in the hotel occupancy tax and the increased funding, we were able to accept the project,\u201d Tenorio said.<\/p>\n
In related news, AVIAREPS Marketing Garden founder and chair Michael Merner said the \u201csports paradise image\u201d is one branding that \u201creally resonates with our Asian markets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they are not looking just for a pure, relaxation, beach vacation, they are also looking for a more active vacation and we have some great sports events here on the islands,\u201d Merner told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
Merner also said the CNMI offers many of the assets of a sports paradise for the Asian markets. \u201cWe have the assets and the islands are fit for the sports,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As for the flower island rebranding project, Merner said that beautiful islands and nature have a \u201chuge appeal,\u201d particularly in Japan and other Asian markets.<\/p>\n
Merner said this will set the CNMI apart from other resorts in Asia that are more built up, concrete, and developed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur unspoiled nature, amazing beaches, incredible waters, fantastic diving, and sports events\u2014that is the kind of image we want to communicate with the Asian markets,\u201d Merner said.<\/p>\n
According to him, the endgame for the projects is the continuing but stable growth of the tourism industry. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to grow so quickly where our visitor satisfaction slows,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Northern Marianas might have the opportunity to rebrand itself as a \u201cflower island\u201d if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26,212,38,745],"class_list":["post-41279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cnmi","tag-mva","tag-saipan-tribune","tag-singapore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}