THE meetings with the CNMI’s travel partners in South Korea two weeks ago were very fruitful, Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Christopher Concepcion said.
Concepcion and MVA Chairwoman Gloria Cavanagh joined Gov. Arnold I. Palacios in a trip to South Korea to discuss with airline and tour agency partners an expansion of air service to the CNMI and the strengthening of the relationship between the Commonwealth and South Korea.
In an interview last week, Concepcion said it was his first trip back to Korea since he was appointed again as MVA managing director, and the first under the Palacios administration.
So, it was important and necessary for him and other MVA officials to go in a “show of force” and meet the CNMI’s Korean travel industry partners since South Korea is the Commonwealth’s number one tourism market, he said.
Concepcion said they had “very frank” discussions on the state of the industry, the CNMI’s projections and expectations.
He said they also expressed hope for continued growth of the Korea market and reiterated their commitment to working closely with travel industry partners to increase arrivals and provide a healthy business environment.
“We feel the Korea market will continue to be our dominant source market for the foreseeable future given the travel trends we see out of that market,” Concepcion said.
He said they briefed their travel industry partners on the many marketing strategies MVA is implementing and everyone was supportive and excited.
“We expect to see continued improvement over the next few months as we slowly recover from the pandemic. The CNMI needs a thriving tourism industry to sustain itself going forward,” Concepcion said.
During a budget hearing on Wednesday last week, Concepcion informed members of the House Ways and Means Committee that the number of air seats from Korea was “recovering.”
This year, he said, MVA projects a 77% recovery of tourist arrivals from Korea. The air seats from Korea prior to the pandemic was 266,239 before it drastically plummeted to almost nothing at the height of the travel restrictions due to the pandemic.
This year, the Korean air seats are projected to increase to 205,308, according to the data Concepcion presented to the committee.
Christopher Concepcion
