Firm stops transport service to Managaha
In yet another sign of the persistently unstable tourism industry in the Northern Marianas, a private transport company has terminated its transfer services between Saipan and Managaha Island due to slow return of investments.
Beginning April 1, 2000, Pacific Development Inc. stopped providing transport services from Saipan to the Commonwealth’s prime tour attraction, indicating continued hard times for the CNMI’s travel sector.
General Manager Yoichi Matsumura noted that PDI’s Managaha Island transfer service has become unprofitable, which has caused the Japanese-owned transport company thousands of dollars in losses.
“Our Managaha transfer service has not maintained an acceptable level of profitability,” Mr. Matsumura said in a signed letter to Commonwealth Ports Authority Executive Director Carlos H. Salas.
Although the transport firm terminated its Managaha Island transfer services, PDI is retaining service to tourist clients for the company’s Sunset Dinner Cruise optional tour, according to Mr. Matsumura.
“We are appreciative of your understanding of our concerns about passenger departure fee. We know that CPA continues to search for a solution to this issue, and we hope your agency will maintain its efforts to resolve the problem,” he told Mr. Salas.
Apparently triggered by the weakened buying power of the yen against the U.S. dollar, a huge portion of Japanese travelers who come to the Northern Marianas have chosen to remain on Saipan, avoiding side trips to Managaha Island and spending less on duty-free items.
These changes in the visitors’ spending behavior have, in fact, caused a significant drop in revenues generated by the CNMI government from the excise taxes of products normally purchased by travelers.
A report prepared by the Central Statistics Division of the commerce department disclosed that the average excise tax quarterly collection fell to $4.9 million in Fiscal Year 1999, from $6.1 million during the previous year.
An analysis of the spending behavior of Japanese travelers noted a dramatic decline from September 1997 to August 1998 among travelers in their early twenties and late forties.
Studies have also noted a significant change in the travel pattern of young Japanese who now take one overseas trip to merely satisfy their desire to go abroad. Once they fulfill this, they start looking for alternative domestic destinations.
One major concern which the CNMI government should look into is the reports on the destruction of the Managaha Island, which had reportedly been badly damaged by the recent dredging at the Saipan harbor.
The administration of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio previously asked the Coastal Resources Management Office and other government agencies to tightly monitor Managaha Island, as well as try to do a destruction assessment survey to determine the extent of damages sustained by the island.
No formal surveys have been done as the CNMI does not have the technical expertise on the matter but initial estimates on the erosion range from 1,000 to 2,000 linear feet.
Officials believe the dredging of the Saipan channel, which moved the ocean floor down to minus 40 feet, may have resulted to stronger underwater currents that is now chipping away Managaha’s sand composition from below.
Another factor that is figuring in on the erosion is the removal, in 1996, of sea wrecks seen by the Marianas Visitors Authority MVA as safety hazards. The steel wrecks were actually functioning as a “small groin” on the beach area.
The Managaha Island was formed through an outcropping coral system that eventually caught and built a sand formation and vegetation through tidal movements over the years.
