Visitor arrivals plummet 11.51 percent in February

CNMI tourism numbers dropped significantly last month, as the stagnant economy in South Korea and its weakening won contributed to an 11.51-percent drop in visitor arrivals.

Despite the lower arrivals, Marianas Visitors Authority said the Japanese and Russian markets remain “bright spots” for the Commonwealth’s tourism industry.

Records showed that a total of 35,594 tourists visited Saipan, Rota, and Tinian in February 2009, compared to 40,222 that came to the islands in the same period in 2008.

The Korean market posted its fourth consecutive month of loss with 25 percent fewer arrivals compared to February last year, which saw 8,305 arrivals.

The number of air seats from Korea also dropped 14 percent compared to previous records in 2008.

MVA blamed the downward trend to the fall of the Korean won, which, according to the Bank of Korea, sank 25.7 percent against the U.S. dollar last year, becoming one of the world’s worst performing currencies.

The spending of Korean tourists on overseas travel also declined sharply, again due to the weaker won and the economic slump. Their spending amounted to $12.6 billion in 2008, down 25.4 percent from the previous year.

“While the Korean economy is down, fewer Koreans are traveling overseas,” said MVA managing director Perry Tenorio, adding that in January 2009, total outbound travel from Korea was down nearly 40 percent compared to January 2008.

“Many Korean travelers are heeding their government’s request not to travel abroad,” Tenorio said.

The continuous decline in arrivals was also attributed to the downsizing of Asiana Airlines’ service to the Commonwealth. The airlines announced a decrease in its air capacity from Seoul to Saipan by using A321 aircraft from the former B767 aircraft starting March 28. B767 has air seats of 250, while A321 has 177 seats.

MVA said the carrier will also pull out its morning flights during off-season months, which is from March 29 until June 30.

Asiana Airlines will also decrease the number of weekly flights for the Busan-Saipan route from the current four to two from March 1 until July 16. This flight will be operated on Thursdays and Sundays using Airbus 321s from March 29.

The visitors agency said this tentative plan may change according to the volatile market situation. It noted that despite the economic downturn, the load factors for the route remained above 80 percent in February.

MVA said the lower arrivals in February was also a result of the Lunar New Year holiday. MVA said the Lunar New Year fell in February last year. China arrivals were down 60 percent to 2,345, due in part to fewer flights from major cities, including Guangzhou.

In addition, the CNMI received only one cruise ship last month compared to three cruise ships and two military ships in February 2008.

The arrivals to the CNMI from Guam and the mainland U.S. were also down last month to 1,267 and 615 respectively, as were arrivals from the Philippines, Taiwan and other areas.

On a positive note, arrivals from the primary market of Japan posted an 18-percent increase over a year ago to 22,275.

This was bolstered largely by a 35 percent additional air seats from Japan—25,971 seats in February 2009 compared to 19,198 seats in February 2008. This includes 182 additional seats added via the daily nighttime flights from Narita by Northwest Airlines, launched on July 2, 2008.

MVA cited the semi-annual survey of air capacity by the Travel Journal, which found that Saipan/Guam’s market share increased by 4.15 percent versus the 3.71 percent a year earlier. The same survey indicated that Hawaii’s share fell by 3.96 percent due to Continental Airlines’ withdrawal.

“It’s worthy to note that despite 12 percent fewer Japanese traveling outside the country in January 2009 versus January 2008, the Northern Marianas has been seeing an actual increase in Japanese arrivals over the last several months compared to last year,” said Tenorio, adding that the travel trends from Japan demonstrate that in order to increase arrivals, the CNMI must both retain the air seats it has and seek every means to increase the number of seats.

“We’re pleased to see an increase in February arrivals from Japan, but we are already seeing the effects of the air seat reductions by Northwest Airlines with its termination of daily service from Osaka beginning March 1. We are very concerned about additional reductions announced for the rest of the year.”

The number of arrivals from Russia continued to grow, with 506 visitors arriving from Russia, or 46 percent more than last February.