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01/24/25 - The Korea and Japan offshore offices of the Marianas Visitors Authority were front and center during the tourism body’s biannual general membership meeting on Thursday at Kensington Hotel Saipan.
MVA Korea market country manager Julia Koo said despite the recent Jeju Air tragedy and the political upheaval in South Korea brought about by the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, they still project that visitor arrivals will go up 9% from 177,941 to 193,193 for fiscal year 2025.
She said this is based on air seat forecast with increased scheduled flights and charter flights from Seoul, a minimum of two weekly flights from Busan (29,172 seats), and a minimum of 24 flights and 4,458 seats from Cheongju (plus extra charter flights during high season).
Koo said, ultimately, the final goal for the MVA Korea is to increase the airlift, increase arrivals, increase dollar spending, and increase total expenditure from the South Korea market.
“Despite of the very challenging situation in Korea, we strongly believe that our market has very good resilience for many years. So, we are confident that the market will recover,” she said.
The MVA Korea market country manager added that in today's increasingly personalized world, more and more tourists are seeking richer experiences by moving beyond isolated environments and connecting with communities by sharing similar tastes and interests, according to the 2025 travel trends.
Koo said an increasing number of travelers are seeking opportunities to stargaze and spend special moments under the night sky with 54% taking pictures of the night sky, 37% visiting an observatory, and 36% sleeping under the stars.
Meanwhile, 61% reported being more interested in health and wellness than before, while 79% said that "vacations help build resilience and strength.
Moreover, 69% stated that they enjoy visiting botanical gardens or gardens while on vacation, which, she said, reflects a preference for experiencing beautiful natural scenery while traveling.
She also shared Korean preferences when traveling aboard with 43% choosing their next vacation spot due to the overall “atmosphere experience.” Korean tourists also travel abroad for special events like sports and concerts with 33% opting for short-distance flights and 16% the long-haul variety.
Koo also said that Korean travelers also tend to be influenced by movies, dramas, TV shows, and social media channels in choosing their next travel decisions (88% desire to visit places seen in media with 45% book trips based on this).
Meanwhile, 41% make arrangements for specific restaurants with 46% of outbound Korean travelers willing to travel primarily for dining. Koo, curiously, said there’s a growing trend among Korean travelers prioritizing destinations to get quality rest and relaxation.
A fresh start
MVA Japan Project manager Ishida Yu then stated that his company, Dentsu Inc., only largest global marketing and advertising agency networks in the world, has been tasked to revive the CNMI tourism market in Japan.
Having just been appointed as MVA’s offshore office for its Japan tourist market last September, Yu said Dentsu will utilize all its considerable resources and expertise in bringing back Japanese tourists to the CNMI.
“Dentsu is not a Japanese company. Yes, we are from Japan, but we do business in more than 120 markets and we have more than 70,000 employees all over the world,” he said, while adding that Dentsu has over 12,000 clients worldwide.
Yu said part of Dentsu’s strategy in marketing the Marianas to the Japanese visitor arrival market is learning from the success of a small island destination in Okinawa named Miyakojima.
“It is 2.5 hours from Tokyo by plane. And from here to Tokyo is 3 hours, right? So, it is not a big difference. So, what we are looking is that this is the chance. Something is happening to Japanese [tourists that are making them] look for islands [for vacation],” he said.
This new resort trend started during the COVID-19 pandemic since overseas travel was essentially banned in Japan and in most countries, according to Yu.
“These kind of photogenic skin divers, not the scuba divers, but skin divers, especially young women in their 20s and 30s are visiting Okinawa, Miyakojima, and Ishigakijima. This kind of resort trend has become so popular, but they're tired of going to Okinawa because it's too popular now. Now, they're looking for a [different] place to go, and I have some friends, they went to Maldives this year, but hey, you can go to, you know, Marianas and it’s just three hours 9away],” he said.
Another campaign Dentsu is working on, according to Yu, is their Mariana-san Name Trip Campaign.
“I don't know if you all know, but there's lots of Japanese girls' names that are related to the Marianas. For example, Mari-san, Maria-san, Ria-san, Riana-san, Mana-san, Anna-san, you know? Japanese people are really related to this pronunciation, Mariana, but they don't know where it is.”
Yu said most of the Japanese people only know about Saipan, but they don't know about the island of the Marianas.
“So, we're going to use this campaign to get the awareness of Marianas as a name, and also to increase the sense of closeness to this island. So, we're going to do that.”
Yu also talked about tie-ups with global brands like Toyota (Tomodachi Marianas campaign) and Beams, which is a Japanese clothing brand that fancies itself as more of a culture store.
Yu also shared that a delegation from Hiroshima arrived on Saipan Wednesday night to help plan the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombings, which is pretty much perfect because one of Dentsu’s marketing plans for the Japan market zeroes in on historical/memorial facets of the CNMI along with diving and sports tourism.
Outgoing MVA executive director Christopher A. Concepcion, meanwhile, addressed the elephant in the room when he said the tourism body still has no offshore office in China despite the need for the CNMI to develop a third tourism market alongside Japan and Korea.
MVA board chair Gloria Cavanagh earlier echoed this sentiment when she said in her welcome address, “There is still a need for a strong third source market. Tourism is never an easy industry. But we are hoping with the new administration taking office in Washington, D.C. and with the efforts of our new congresswoman, we will see some traction in our efforts.”
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Story by Mark Rabago
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