Japan is the Northern Marianas’ largest tourism market, and JATA is the country’s national organization of travel agents and suppliers promoting the travel and tourism industry.
The fair, also the largest travel fair in Asia, was held Sept. 24-26, 2010, at the Tokyo Big Sight East Hall.
In addition to distributing destination information and answering questions at the Northern Marianas booth, MVA livened up their presentation with demonstrations of Carolinian bead and mwar making and the art form of banana painting.
The fair featured 914 exhibition booths with 685 companies and organizations from 139 countries and regions.
The Northern Marianas promotion was led by MVA Managing Director Perry Tenorio. Also participating were MVA marketing managing Bruce Bateman, and marketing specialists Hiroko Tenorio and Brenda Repeki, key staff from the MVA Japan office and a number of island entertainers and booth assistants.
The Japan Saipan Travel Association also had two booths inside the Saipan, Tinian and Rota display at this year’s fair. Members shared information about the three islands and played destination-related games with the audience.
“Attendance at the JATA World Trade Fair provides the MVA the opportunity to get our product in front of tens of thousands of people in one short weekend,” said Tenorio. “It’s a must for any national tourism agency that wants to attract visitors from Japan.”
In addition to the JATA World Travel Fair, MVA held a separate Marianas Seminar and Workshop for 79 travel agents and media representatives on Sept. 24 to provide details about attractions in this resort destination.
The bi-annual meeting of the Japan-Marianas Tourism Club was also held on Sept. 24, where the MVA met with key tourism partners and briefed them about on-going and upcoming plans and projections related to the Northern Marianas tourism industry.
