After one year, CNMI tourism is on plateau

Tourism in the CNMI appears to have hit a plateau since last year, with the region seeing statistically insignificant gains in visitor arrivals, according to a recently released report by the Marianas Visitors Authority.

In spite of efforts by local officials to boost airline flight services to the CNMI and advertise the islands as a tourist destination overseas, only 474 more travelers came to Saipan in the MVA’s fiscal year 2008, which ended in September, than in the previous year.

These findings suggest that the local tourism industry’s gradual recovery after major losses several years ago could take far longer than many had hoped. The MVA has long attributed the slow progress in rebuilding the tourism market to factors like, among other issues, high airline ticket prices linked to rising fuel costs and economic turmoil in Asia. Threats of a global recession arising from the financial crisis in the United States is also feeding fears of a domino effect on tourism and travel.

“The threat of a global recession, coupled with higher air fares and the increase in fuel surcharges is of great concern to the MVA,” said MVA managing director Perry Tenorio. “Although it is still too early to predict the impact of these factors on the travel industry, these forces are beyond our control and could severely impact outbound travel demand from our primary and emerging source markets to the CNMI.”

Tinian’s tourism market is facing harder times than Saipan’s. Throughout FY 2008, the island saw only three months of increased visitor arrivals, which fell 13 percent for the year. This decline included a 50-percent drop in tourism on the island last month, down by 1,782 to 1,769.

In contrast, Rota’s tourism sector is showing signs of recovery. The island saw a 10-percent jump in tourism for the year, including gains of 32 percent in April, 43 percent in July and 50 percent in August.

Meanwhile, the demographics of the CNMI’s tourism market for September showed marked gains in visitor arrivals among 20-something travelers compared to the same month last year.

In the 20-to-24 age group, visitor arrivals rose 31 percent. Travelers in the 25–29 age range showed an arrival increase of 15 percent. The CNMI also saw a significant jump in the 45- to 49-year-old demographic’s arrival rate, which was up more than 14 percent for the month. The 50- to 54-year-old age group’s arrivals were up by 10 percent.