Celebrating 30 years of tourism: The beginning

Editor’s note: This is a series of articles about the MVA’s (formerly MVB) accomplishments in the past 30 years. The articles are supplied by the MVA.

A nostalgic look at the local tourism industry will show the magnitude of the impact that this economic driver has had on the Commonwealth. The industry today has been through many challenges as well as accomplishments and accolades. Thirty years have passed and this volatile industry employs now well over 50 percent of the CNMI’s workforce.

Going back to the beginning, the roots of this industry can be traced back to a group of entrepreneurs who envisioned a viable economy that would eventually become the CNMI’s main industry.

Established in 1976, the Marianas Visitors Bureau focused on building awareness of the destination internationally. Then managing director J.M. Guerrero, through the support and direction of the board, boasted combined promotions and marketing efforts mainly in Japan in conjunction with the private sectors to establish the destination’s awareness.

In 1977, the tourism industry welcomed 57,319 visitors and saw an increase of 59 percent the following year totaling 91,372 visitors. As the primary market source to the Northern Mariana Islands, Japan posted an 87-percent increase over 1977’s arrival figure. The United States was the second largest market, capturing 29 percent of total visitor arrival—staggering numbers at this time as the visitors count showed a transitory population six times over the CNMI’s total population, thus providing an economic impact of $27.42 million injected into the CNMI’s economy in 1978.

As the Japan outbound market outperformed all others during this period, this market became the CNMI’s largest market then and now. With the Japan market growing in numbers at the beginning of the visitor industry, the MVB staged a promotional gathering to appreciate the efforts of the Japan travel trade on Oct. 27, 1978 at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. Former Gov. Carlos S. Camacho accompanied the bureau to the gathering in support of the visitor industry for the Northern Marianas. During the gathering, the governor promised to strengthen ties between the Marianas visitor industry and suppliers of tour packages around Tokyo.

In 1978, other promotional programs included participation in the Osaka Trade Fair in Japan, the PATA Travel Mart in Manila, and a variety of familiarization tours to the CNMI. In addition, MVB struck a major success story with the coverage of Nippon TV (NTV) Japan featuring the CNMI in an ultra quiz program in September of that year. This was probably one of the largest single exposure opportunities provided the CNMI, with an audience of over 36 million and aired by 24 network-broadcasting companies over a three-week period. Today, this type of program would require millions of advertising dollars if paid for.

Additionally, in 1978, there were a total of 44 MVB members. Some of these businesses are still members of MVA such as DFS Saipan, Hafadai Beach Hotel, Continental Airlines, PDI, Tasi Tours & Transportation, etc. The CNMI had a total of 765 hotel rooms. On Saipan, there were seven hotels. Rota had three hotels, and Tinian had three hotels as well.

The year ended with an optimistic outlook for the visitor industry in the CNMI. Ongoing partnerships with the industry members continue to be the main component in expanding the industry. In the next series, we will cover 1979 -1981 period when the bureau undertook aggressive marketing plans that will expand our markets, Japan, Guam, and the U.S.

Tourism continues to be the CNMI’s main economic driver. Ensuring its success remains with the people of the Commonwealth where we show our hospitality and the “Hafa Adai” spirit enthusiastically. Treat our visitors with respect and express our gratitude for their being here in our beautiful islands of the CNMI.