Tinian Dynasty eyes talks with Mandarin Air

Management of the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino is holding a series of discussion with executives of the Taipei-based Mandarin Airlines for increased flights from the Taiwan capital to the Northern Marianas.

Tinian Dynasty Hotel Manager Tom Liu is flying to Taipei this week for a scheduled discussion with officials of Mandarin Air, almost two months after their Taiwan-Saipan charter agreement expired in November 2001.

Right after its charter pact with Tinian Dynast expired, Mandarin Air was able to strike an agreement with a group of Taiwan-based tour operators which now buys 100 charter seats held previously by the hotel-casino company.

Mandarin Airlines flies Taipei-Saipan every Monday and Friday. Tinian Dynasty handled the charter flight every Friday while tour operators from Taipei takes charge of the Monday flight.

Mandarin Airlines previously expressed intentions to continue with its direct service between the Taiwan capital and Saipan unless the company encounters too much of a problem with regards to marketing and promotional campaign for the destination.

The charter agreement between Mandarin Airlines and Tinian Dynasty expired last Nov. 17, 2000.

Tinian Dynasty has previously asked the airline company to reduce the charter seats from 138 to 70 due to the decline in the number of Taiwanese tourists coming to the island.

With the beginning of direct air service between Taipei and Saipan, Commonwealth officials are expecting to get a good share of over five million Taiwanese who take overseas travels once every year.

Tinian Dynasty is now crafting concrete plans to draw more foreign and local visitors into the once drowsy island in 2001, after concluding the past year with a slightly higher occupancy rate.

Tinian Dynasty is hoping to reach a conservative annual average of 50-percent occupancy rate for this year, higher by 12 percent from last year’s finish of 38 percent.

Mr. Liu stressed the 50 percent anticipated occupancy rate for the year is the most realistic projection Tinian Dynast could come up with due to several factors that affect the entry of tourists into the Northern Marianas.

The multi-million dollar hotel-casino facility opened its doors to foreign and local visitors in early 1998. It is the first casino in the Northern Marianas which was hoped to fortify Tinian’s economy.

Last year’s 38 percent occupancy rate improved by eight percent from the total number of Tinian Dynasty hotel rooms occupied in 1999. “The improvement may not be good enough but we are at least seeing brighter indications,” he added.

Mr. Liu attributed the low occupancy rate to the limited number of airline seats earmarked by international carriers from major Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan to the Northern Marianas.

Mandarin Air uses B737-800 aircraft in all of its charter flights between Taipei and Saipan. The aircraft can accommodate 158 passengers. (Aldwin R. Fajardo)