Will European travelers be drawn to the Northern Mariana Islands?
Quite possibly. According to Eurostat, Europeans spend four out of five trips outside their own country.
The Marianas Visitors Authority is hoping so. According to a Nov. 18 release, MVA exhibited at the World Travel Market from Nov. 5 to Nov. 7 in London, where booths cost between £6,000 and £10,000.
The Marianas Visitors Authority toured the Word Travel Market from Nov. 5 to Nov. 7 in London. Photo courtesy MVA.
Aside from meetings with what MVA said were “travel agencies, tour operators, airlines, television programs, key opinion leaders and social media influencers,” – the authority said it also promoted its business-friendly tax structure.
Europeans often travel long-distance since many of them have four weeks or more of annual leave.
However, British travelers are accustomed to package vacations, with four in ten respondents to an Air Travel Organisers Licensing program survey in February saying they would “book a package holiday for their next big trip.”
According to market research firm Euromonitor International, preliminary data for 2023 full-year European outbound volume shows 9.1 million trips made from Eastern Europe to the Asia-Pacific region and 18.7 million trips made from Western Europe to the Asia-Pacific. This represents 65% and 71% of 2019 levels.
Top destinations in the region for Eastern Europeans in 2023 were Thailand, 1.1 million; China, 995,200; Indonesia, 410,900; India, 291,200; and Vietnam, 291,100.
Among Western Europeans, the top 10 destinations were familiar Asia-Pacific tourism hotspots. Thailand took the top position with 3.6 million trips from Western Europe, followed by Pakistan, 2 million, including members of the Pakistani diaspora; India, 1.7 million; Japan,1.3 million; China, 1.1 million; Indonesia, 1.1 million; Singapore, 1 million; Vietnam, 835,100; the Philippines, 662.100; and the Maldives, 655,600.
The UK was the most recovered European source market to the Asia-Pacific in 2023. mbj
As some residents throughout the Northern Mariana Islands three months post Super Typhoon Sinlaku and two weeks post Super Typhoon Bavi remain without power, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. shared that new materials have been received to aid in restoration throughout the NMI.
As part of ongoing Super Typhoon Sinlaku and Super Typhoon Bavi relief efforts, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is constructing 18 modular classrooms and two restrooms at the Northern Marianas College.
Regional leaders, government officials, and industry executives gathered at the Guam International Airport Authority on Wednesday, July 22 for the inaugural session of the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Working Group, driving a unified regional effort to expand the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program to include the Philippines.
GTA contributed to relief efforts in support of the Mayor’s Council of Guam, donating 60 cases of water and gas cards for fuel to aid Rota’s ongoing recovery.
