Declining tourist arrivals and the MVA
Hotel occupancy rates are at an ebb. Tourism is down. But there is absolutely nothing the Marianas Visitors Bureau can do about it.
The MVA cannot successfully promote tourism because, for all practical purposes, there are no consequences when it fails. That is to say, if tourist arrivals dropped 29 percent next year, the MVA’s “marketing manager” still gets his pay. In fact, he may even get a raise–this, despite the fact that he failed to develop a strategic marketing plan in the first place.
In other words, in the realm of government, there is often no direct link between pay and performance. Even if tourist arrivals continue to decline, it makes no difference to the MVA staff. The head of the government agency would still get his $70,000-$75,000 annual salary no matter how far tourism falls.
In fact, the MVA could be led by completely incompetent administrators and they would still be retained. Unlike the private business sector, incompetent employees are rarely ever fired in government “service.” In government, political considerations often prevail. Merit is almost irrelevant. Promotions and pay raises stem from political “connections” or seniority rather than individual merit.
If tourism suffered for three to five consecutive years, not a single Marianas Visitors Authority employee would ever be forced to take a pay cut. No employees would be let go. At the MVA (and at virtually every other government agency, for that matter), there are no financial incentives to promote innovation, cost reduction, or superior performance. This is why government does not work.
In the case of the MVA, an added complication exists. For there is essentially no way to conclusively determine that any promotional effort they undertake actually results in more tourist arrivals. There are no effective means of measuring their performance.
For example, suppose the MVA decides to set a 2001 goal of increasing tourism by, say, fifteen percent. Even if they miraculously achieve this goal, which we should seriously doubt, how are we to know that tourism increased as a direct result of the MVA’s promotional efforts?
It could very well be that the increase in tourism could have instead been the result of external factors–the regional economy, for example. By the same token, the reverse could also be true. If tourism continues to plummet, it could be the result of the faltering Japanese economy more than any promotional failure on the MVA’s part.
Of course, the more tourism plummets, the more the MVA will urgently clamor for more government funds for tourism promotions. But the government should not give them any more money. They may even reduce the MVA’s budget for the reasons already mentioned above.
Strictly a personal view. Charles Reyes Jr. is a regular columnist of Saipan Tribune. Mr. Reyes may be reached at charlesraves@hotmail.com
