Tourism may see slight growth in ’01

The Northern Marianas braces for another dusky year with all indications pointing to the slow rally of the Commonwealth’s largest revenue-generating tourism industry, business leaders said.

This, as the Japan economy manifests turtle-paced growth which may mean fewer Japanese visitors to the CNMI and lower revenues for tourism-related businesses and the government.

But industry leaders are optimistic that tourist arrivals to the Northern Marianas will pick up by the end of the year, citing intensified promotional efforts.

Industry people are hoping that deplanement figures will remain steadfast as a result of the various promotional programs carried out by the Marianas Visitors Authority in coordination with the private sector.

The growth of the local tourism industry clings on how well major economies in the Asian Region, where the Commonwealth is largely dependent, will perform this year.

“It’s going to take long for the tourism industry to stabilize. We foresee our industry to start picking up toward the end of the year,” they said.

But MVA and the business community in the Northern Marianas are working hand in hand to come up with programs that would encourage increased inbound movement to the CNMI.

While admitting that some non-dollar-based destinations in the Asia-Pacific Region have practically become cheaper due to the regional financial turmoil, local industry players said this should not be the same case for the CNMI.

They added pricing is market driven and that prices of CNMI tour packages are based on the existing trend in the market. “What we should do is look at what values we have, and although pricing is one of these [values] we should not be adjusting our prices because other people are adjusting theirs.”

The island’s proximity to its target markets is a key component in efforts to make CNMI an attractive destination. The Northern Marianas is only about three hours air travel away from Japan and Korea.

Commonwealth Development Authority Board Chair John S. Tenorio earlier said the Northern Marianas remain an exciting destination for Japanese visitors, citing the Commonwealth’s historical value.

But he admitted that the economic situation in the tourists’ home country is also a major factor considered by travelers when taking outbound or overseas trips.

Visitor arrivals to the islands climbed 3.92 percent in January to reach 45,613, which shows that the island’s distressed tourism industry is slowly waking up from a three-year slumber that started in 1998.

Travelers from Japan have persistently positioned themselves as the prime source of revenues for the local tourism industry as the Marianas Visitors Authority disclosed a six-percent improvement on the number of Japanese tourists to the CNMI last month.

MVA officials attribute the increase to the 5.8 percent improvement in passenger haul through direct flights from Japan to Saipan.

There were only four charter flights last month compared with January 2000’s nine. However, the growth may also be spurred by the arrival of two cruise ships in January, when scheduled ocean trips to the island from Japan were canceled last year due to concerns on computer glitches.

The honeymoon season and school holidays in South Korea also contributed to the overall growth of arrival statistics last month. At least 6,107 Korean travelers visited the CNMI, translated into a 24-percent increase from last year’s figures.

Although Seoul-based Asiana Airlines pulled out its services between Saipan and the Korean province of Pusan middle of January, the carrier redirected the flights to originate from the country’s capital to the CNMI.