SAIPAN, Micronesia (9 Oct 2001) -- A three-man damage-control team from the Marianas Visitors Authority left yesterday afternoon for a three-day trip to Japan, where they intend to convince Japanese travelers to continue visiting the CNMI as a tourist destination. Press Secretary Frank Rosario said the MVA delegation will be composed of managing director Perry Tenorio, board chairman Dave Sablan and board member Mary Aldan-Pierce. MVA deputy managing director Vicky Benavente confirmed that the delegation left for Japan yesterday afternoon and they will be back on Saturday, September 29. Rosario stressed that the trip "is part of the plan for the MVA to lure back the tourists because, as you know, tourism is our second major industry, second only to garments. Any losses or downturn in the tourism sector would certainly affect the CNMI government." Before leaving, Rosario said the delegation prepared a statement and a press release-translated into Japanese-which they intend to distribute in Japan to reassure people there that the CNMI remains a viable tourism destination-safe, secure and far from the troubles besetting the US mainland. "The MVA prepared these statement and press release beforehand, so that when they get there, they will be releasing these documents promoting the CNMI as a safe destination," Rosario said. He added that the team will be meeting mostly with travel agents in Japan. "This is what the Guam government is doing, although they are sending a larger delegation. It's better to directly appeal on a person-to-person basis, rather than just releasing a statement. They may have questions," he said. Since Continental Micronesia initiated direct flights between Japan and Saipan on October 1, 1977, Rosario said that close to 10 million Japanese tourists have visited the CNMI. "At one point, we had like almost 800,000 tourists and a very large percentage of them were from Japan," he said. For the moment, Continental Micronesia has suspended direct flights between Nagoya and Saipan in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the US mainland. Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has assured, though, that this will resume on October 1. | | Mary Celeste For his part, Rep. Dino M. Jones said he intends to file a resolution in the House of Representatives commending Japan Airlines for not laying off employees and for continuing its service to the CNMI despite the drastic drop in the tourism industry. "This decision by Japan Airlines is highly commendable, more so since any more cancellation of flights into the CNMI would further cripple the hobbling tourism industry," Jones said. He said that, although Continental Micronesia has already signified its intention to resume the suspended Nagoya-Saipan route, the government should also try to convince Japan Airlines to add more flights into the Commonwealth. "That would be a positive step because we cannot just leave the present situation as is," he said. As for any moves to increase the budget of the MVA, Jones said that the MVA will have to explain first how they intend to spend the money. "What are the projects they intend to pursue to spur the recovery of the tourism sector? What are their targets in terms of tourism arrivals? Giving money to MVA is not enough and we could be throwing good money after bad. In situations like this, the MVA has to be more creative in marketing the CNMI. If we resort to the old methods, these may no longer work in light of the recent events," he said. The congressman also urged the MVA to attract other markets such as Thailand, Hong Kong and China, and not just focus solely on Japan. |
