Many group travelers, he added, are availing of the waivers granted for trip cancellations as a result of the 8.9 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeast Japan.
“While this is an unfortunate scenario, the commonwealth is also very much mindful of the recovery process that our friends in Japan must now endure,” the press secretary said.
He said the administration and MVA want to initiate relief efforts with the Japanese community.
Flights
In related news, Continental Airlines has resumed flights to Japan.
Koji Nagata, Asia-Pacific communications director, said Continental cancelled roundtrip flights from Guam to Japan on March 11 on account of the airport condition following the earthquake in Japan.
“However Continental has resumed a normal schedule from Guam to Japan from Saturday (March 12) except Guam-Sendai route as Sendai Airport is currently closed.”
Nagata said Continental plans to resume its four-weekly Guam-Sendai regular service as soon as the airport becomes operational.
On March 13 “Continental re-routed the Guam-Sendai flight to Tokyo, Narita and arranged for transportation from Narita to Sendai in order to get our passengers home. Continental will continue to work on getting all passengers from the Sendai area back to Japan as soon as possible,” he added.
Variety also learned that Continental Airlines aircraft had already departed Sendai Airport when the earthquake hit Japan Friday.
Nagata said, “There was no damage to our aircraft since the plane had already taken off for Guam before the earthquake occurred in the area on March 11.”
On Saipan, the business community expressed its sympathy with Japan.
Erick Van Der Maas, owner of Revolving Restaurant 360 and Marianas Business Plaza, said: “I am saddened by all the mass destruction and loss of human life and property following the earthquake and tsunami.”
Longtime CNMI resident and businesswoman Ayako Matsumoto expressed sadness over the situation in Japan.
“I would like to express my appreciation for the U.S., Korea, Germany and other countries that are sending rescue teams to Japan. There are so many missing people up to now. I hope we will find the missing persons as soon as possible. This is our first priority,” said Matsumoto, who is also a board member of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce
Van Der Maas noted that Japan is the world’s third largest economy and the CNMI’s largest tourism market.
The disaster in Japan, he added, “will have an impact on our economy.”
According to Richard A. Pierce, executive director of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Japanese travelers “have been extremely sympathetic to those families who have suffered losses in natural disasters. This may slightly affect future travel to the CNMI. It is also true that the coming months are a downward trend for travelers from Japan anyway, so there may be less impact than would have been in peak travel months.”
Jose Ricardo Delgado, IT&E president said: “I think tourism of course will take a hit because after this kind of calamity, people are not really thinking of having a good time. The nation is under shock at this moment, and could take weeks or months to recover.”
Kanae Quinn, director of sales and marketing of the Pacific Islands Club, said it will be hard to accurately forecast the true impact on CNMI tourism.
“As of now, the basic necessities are not readily available: power, food, water and transportation are limited in the main Tokyo area. This may mean that some Japanese would want to escape and go on holiday as they can’t do much until systems are restored. For the others, they would probably want to be at home, taking care of other family members and their communities to assist in whatever they can,” said Quinn.
She added, “Japan is still experiencing medium-sized quakes of [magnitude] 4.2+ on an hourly basis. We won’t know how much worse the conditions may get.”
As for hotel operations, Kanae told Variety that they have already received 10 cancellations.
“If tours are cancelled for March and into April, this will definitely impact hotel occupancies, airline load factors, optional tours, shops, restaurants, etc. We can only hope for the best and ensure that we provide a memorable, fun and most importantly, a safe destination for tourists,” said Quinn.
