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Easing in tourism slump elates Teno • But governor says economic recovery is still a long way to go
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Posted on Nov 22 1999
Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio on Friday expressed satisfaction over the 20 percent jump in tourist arrivals last month compared to the same period in 1998, but said this does not mean economic recovery for the Northern Marianas.
“Definitely we saw some increase in arrival of the tourists, but we have to take into consideration that there are certain months of the year where we don’t see that increase,” he said in an interview.
“But I’m happy to see that tourists are coming back,” added Mr. Tenorio.
The Marianas Visitors Authority said last week that due to the growth posted by Korean and Japanese markets, visitors arrivals soared 20 percent to 40,941 in October 1999 over the same period last year.
The increase was attributed by tourism officials to a strong yen against the U.S. dollar, which pushed arrivals from Japan, the island’s main market, by 25 percent. Korea, on the other hand, leaped 80 percent because of the improvement of air service between Saipan and Seoul.
According to the governor, the government will still continue to promote the Commonwealth in those two major markets in effort to stabilize the local tourism industry.
The island has been battered by the two-year recession in Asia that began in 1997, forcing nearly 2,000 tourist-related establishments to close down and sending local coffers into serious cash-flow problems.
