Visitor arrivals hit seven-year high

Visitor arrivals totaled over half a million in fiscal year 2004, surpassing arrival levels since fiscal year 1998.

Marianas Visitors Authority statistics showed that the CNMI welcomed 530,930 visitors in the recently concluded fiscal year, breaking the record arrivals of 526,298 set seven years ago.

“We are happy to see visitor arrivals continue to register strong growth. Total arrivals for fiscal year 2004 have exceeded arrivals for fiscal year 2003, as well as the past six fiscal years,” said MVA managing director Vicky I. Benavente. “MVA, in cooperation with its members from the private sector, will continue to focus on maintaining this upward trend through our promotional and marketing efforts.”

The latest figure is also 16 percent ahead of FY 2003 and 25 percent of FY 2002 figures.

MVA noted that FY 2004 arrivals compared with FY 2002 figures provide a more precise indication for the growth in visitor arrivals. Arrival figures for FY 2003 reflect the impact of SARS, which caused the low arrival base.

China was the fastest growing market for the CNMI’s tourism industry. Arrivals from China soared throughout the 11 months out of 12, in fiscal year 2004, setting a record-breaking year for the market.

Arrivals from this market recorded 29,238, an increase of 119 percent as compared with FY2003.

Japan captured 72.42 percent, or the biggest portion, of total arrivals for FY 2004. The CNMI’s primary tourism market generated a total of 384,531 tourists for the CNMI, an increase of 21 percent as compared with FY2003.

The Philippines was another market that registered growth in FY2004. The market posted a total of 5,226 visitors, an increase of 32 percent.

The CNMI’s closest neighbor sent a total to 19,384 visitors to the Commonwealth. Guam registered a slight 2 percent increase as compared with the FY 2003 of 18,993.

The rest of the markets, however, have yet to recover from the series of world events that hit the tourism industry in recent years.

Korea remains the CNMI’s second largest market with a 13.08-percent share of the total FY 2004 figure. However, arrivals from this country totaled only 69,460 in FY 2004, declining by 13 percent as compared with the preceding fiscal year.

Other markets that experienced a slump in FY 2004 were the United States, which declined by 11 percent; Taiwan, 36 percent; and Hong Kong, 16 percent.

Tourist arrivals started its downward trend in FY 1998 as a result of the Asian economic crisis. In that year, arrivals plunged to 526,298, a decline of 27.6 percent as compared with FY 1997.

The numbers further sank in FY 1999, when the CNMI recorded 491,602 in total arrivals. A slight improvement was seen in FY 2000, with arrivals of 526,111.

Arrivals have not surpassed the half-million mark since then. Terrorist attacks in the United States in September 2001 broke the momentum of the visitor industry, causing arrivals to the CNMI to reach only 497,696.

The negative impact of 9/11 became more evident in 2002, when arrivals totaled only 423,932. In 2003, the SARS epidemic and the outbreak of the war in Iraq compounded the 9/11 events, further devastating the world tourism industry.