December arrivals down nearly 5 percent

Tourist arrivals to the Northern Mariana Islands fell nearly 5 percent last month compared to December 2007, as arrivals from Korea, China and several other destinations posted losses. However, gains early in the year allowed the NMI to post a small 2.04 percent increase in arrivals for calendar year 2008.

According to the Marianas Visitors Authority, total visitor arrivals to the CNMI reached 34,181 last month versus 35,849 December 2007. Cumulative arrivals in calendar year 2008 totaled 396,274 visitors, or 7,929 (2.04 percent) visitors ahead of calendar year 2007.

Arrivals from Korea dropped significantly for the second month in a row to 8,098, which is 30 percent fewer than last December. The weakened Korean economy and depreciated won continue to result in fewer Korean outbound tourists overall, which is also affecting arrivals to the CNMI. This loss comes despite an overall increase in flights by Asiana Airlines from 15 flights a week in December 2007 to 18 flights a week in December 2008.

Due to the decreased travel demand with the economic downturn, Asiana Airlines reduced its air capacity from Seoul to Saipan last month under the flexible aircrafts operating system. From Dec. 15-23, 2008, Asiana Airlines replaced the Boeing 767 (250 seats) with the narrow body Airbus 321(177 seats) aircraft. The aircraft replacement will also be in effect for morning flights from Seoul from Jan. 1-25, 2009. MVA’s off-shore office reports that Asiana Airlines anticipates to operate this plan flexibly depending on demand and load factors.

Due to the decreased demand, Asiana Airlines also plans to cut the number of weekly flights from the current four to two on the Pusan-Saipan route starting March 1. Asiana also plans to decrease the number of weekly flights from the current 14 to 11 on the Incheon-Saipan route from late February or early March

“Arrivals from Korea continue to be negatively influenced by national factors beyond our control,” said MVA managing director Perry Tenorio. “However, Korea is the CNMI’s second largest source market and accounted for 28 percent of our total arrivals in 2008. They continue to be an important market for us.”

On a positive note, December 2008 was another strong month for the Japan as the market posted another month of growth, and specifically, a 19-percent increase in arrivals compared to December 2007. Bolstered by a stronger Japanese yen and additional flights, Japan generated 20,517 visitors last month, 3,321 more visitors than in December 2007. The additional flights included three additional weekly flights by Asian Airlines from Osaka beginning Dec. 18, four charter flights to Saipan, and two charter flights to Rota. The NMI also received one cruise ship from Japan—MS Asuka II—with 813 passengers.

“Japan is another market with fewer outbound tourists where our off-shore offices have used our limited funding effectively to maintain NMI market share,” said Tenorio. “There are fewer Japanese traveling, but the NMI is holding its own in terms of percentage.”

The first of three charter flights by Vladivostok Airlines arrived in December, raising the monthly total to 895 visitors from Russia, or 39 percent more than last December. Although small in number, Russian tourists have proven lucrative for the NMI in terms of length of stay and on-island expenditures.

China recorded only 2,004 arrivals, 42 percent lower than last year, attributed to fewer available flights from major market destinations. The CNMI has only one direct flight from Shanghai, China as compared to two direct flights from Guanghzhou and Beijing in December 2007. Arrivals from Guam, the mainland U.S. and Philippines were also down.

With the economies of Japan and Korea on the downswing and the uncertainty of continued visa waivers for China and Russia, tourism in Saipan, Tinian, and Rota faces significant unpredictability in 2009. [B][I](MVA)[/I][/B]