Asunton Coñgresso

When the NMI first opened its tourism industry in the sixties, there were visitors from neighboring Japan who once lived or served here before World War II broke out.

This group wanted to revisit what was once home and came by the hundreds to see the island they once called home. They wanted to see the old city in Garapan, sugar manufacturing at what is today Mt. Carmel High School, or Suicide Cliff in Marpi where hundreds of their families and relatives jumped to their death; or locals they once knew before the war separated them. It was a nostalgic trip for most of the pre-war generation.

“Since then, they have returned to our islands on repeat visits. Returning home, they bought expensive gifts for family members, friends and relatives. But most of the pre-war visitors have grown old and no longer return to a familiar setting (NMI) perhaps as a result of their age,” observed House Floor Leader Oscar Babauta.

“The visitors who visit these islands today are honeymooners or young families,” he said. “In short, the type of visitors has changed, including their spending behavior,” Babauta offered. “This makes it mandatory that we reassess what really needs to be done in what was once our biggest and most lucrative industry,” he said.

“What we have to offer by way of scenic sites may no longer be attractive for Japanese tourists, most of whom are young and have no inkling or sense of history between Japan and the Northern Marianas,” he said. “What then is the type of tourists that we wish to lure to our islands, i.e., families by building family-oriented resort facilities, eco-tourism, improve upon the triad of the sea, sun and sand or what is it?”

“There are a lot of questions that we need to address and resolve so that we make the most mileage in our promotional efforts of paradise,” Babauta noted. “Perhaps the establishment of a research center either with the MVA here or its satellite offices in Japan and elsewhere may be a matter of necessity in order for the NMI to ascertain that its efforts are focus on the appropriate markets”.

“I have had preliminary discussions with Representative Bobby Guerrero, head of the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism to explore an organized approach to tourism based on research data on new and emerging tourism markets in Japan and Asia,” Babauta related.
“Lest we forget, there are formidable competing destinations in and around Japan or in neighboring countries, including the Aloha State”.

“We no longer can rest on our laurels and by this, I am not criticizing the MVA or other pertinent agencies, but simply making an observation to encourage a more organized undertaking in our total efforts to revive the tourism industry”, Babauta said. “The virtual existence of exotic destinations outside Tokyo and Osaka in a huge entertainment center is reason for us to seriously reassess the future trend of tourism in the NMI”.