Irene Lee of the MVA office in Korea said study shows that Korean arrivals to the CNMI will jump by 30 percent to 120,000 this year.
“The Korean economy is recovering very fast,” she told the Variety in an interview.
She said the country’s economic recovery will enable more Koreans to travel overseas.
Michael Merner, chairman of Aviareps Marketing Garden and the person in-charge of MVA’s office in Japan, said Japanese arrivals to the CNMI may grow by 15 percent this year.
“The rebound is not quite large but we may still see a 15 percent growth this year from Japan,” he said in an interview.
In his presentation during the MVA general membership meeting where he was the keynote speaker, Merner said the global economic crisis had a great negative impact on many destinations like the CNMI.
So did the H1N1 or swine flu virus outbreak.
Japan, the world’s second largest economy, is slowly recovering from its recession and its renewed strength boded well for tourism destinations like the CNMI.
“As exports pick up and the government stimulus takes effect, Japan’s economy is slowly recovering from its worst recession since World War II, growing 2.7 percent and 1.3 percent in the last two quarters. The yen remains strong at 90 to a dollar, so travel to the CNMI has become more affordable for Japanese. Its GDP is expected to grow by 1.2 percent in 2010 thanks to government stimulus programs, boosting exports and consumer confidence,” said Merner.
The CNMI continues to struggle to keep the Japanese market since Japan Airlines pulled out its 14 weekly flights from Saipan in late 2005.
Only Asiana Airlines and Delta Airlines fly direct between Saipan and Japan.
Merner said Delta is going to add a third daily flight out of the Narita International Airport and will maintain its Nagoya flights.
Asiana will also keep the Osaka-Saipan route.
All this will enable Saipan to gain 12 percent of air seats from Japan which will translate to a 15 percent projected arrivals growth, Merner said.
