What tourists do NOT want

By BRAD DOERR
Special to the Saipan Tribune

The Freefire question this week, “What should CNMI do to attract more tourist?” shows the lack of true marketing experience that seems prevalent in the CNMI. Stop and think about it. If the Saipan Tribune gave away their newspaper in hopes of acquiring new customers, they can only increase their sales if the person likes the paper and becomes a repeat customer. Every successful businessperson knows that “special sales” do not make them money. But if they can generate a new customer because of that “special sale” and that customer keeps coming back to their business, then the business will make money from that new customer over and over. No matter how many tourists we can get to come to the CNMI, if they do not come back (or worse they tell a friend that the CNMI is not worth the money), all the advertising to get that person to the CNMI is wasted. The question should be “How can CNMI (or Saipan) become a place for repeat business from tourists?” Since I live on Saipan, I will address Saipan’s needs. Overall, we need to look at what tourists do not want.

They do not want to be ripped off, either at stores, taxis, bars, etc. They want to be treated fairly and politely. They are guests to our island. And I would say overall, they are treated fairly and politely. Let’s keep it that way. We need to look at the different cultures that visit the island. Most Asian visitors from industrialized nations prefer cleanliness. If they wanted to see garbage on the beaches and streets, they surely could find that in their country. There should never be overflowing garbage cans anywhere on the island. That includes residences. Most cities in the modern world have laws that do not allow residents to operate their own personal garbage dump (including vehicles) on their private property. A few less junkets by the Marianas Visitors Authority should provide sufficient funds for continued cleanup. A little courage by the elected politicians to pass laws to prohibit garbage (including vehicles) accumulations on private property would help quite a bit if the police fairly enforced the law. Our island is not big, so the whole island is our stage. It should look beautiful everywhere. It is our best asset.

Those same politicians should push for commercial zoning that is actually enforced and planned with some level of competence. There is no reason for the strip joints all over the Garapan and other business areas that cater to the tourists. Move the strippers (and the prostitutes that we do not have) to an area that is zoned (key word here) for adult entertainment. Any tourist that is interested in such establishments will be able to find one. I am quite sure that tourist families with children will not be offended if the strip joints, adult shops and the riffraff were somewhere else.

Tourists do not want to be bored. Some would even like to do things that are interesting. We have a small museum that overcharges tourists. How about combining the museum with the Historical Preservation Office and putting it all in Garapan? American Memorial park has a great exhibit. Why shouldn’t we exhibit the Chamorro artifacts and history that are such an important aspect of the Mariana Islands? We could show a little more culture.

I am sure the tourists do not like the smell of sewage in Garapan or elsewhere. We need to fix that problem. Remember, the best advertising is word of mouth and we do not want tourists telling their friends that Saipan smells of sewage!

Everyone in government and business here and their employees have noticed the decrease in tourists from Japan and everyone wants to attract more tourists. But we have already attracted lots of tourists from Japan and they decided that they do not want to come back. Saipan does not really need more tourists. What we need is to take care of the tourists we have so they can tell a friend about the great time they had on Saipan. And the most important part, that they plan to come back for another great vacation.

Brad Doerr is a resident of As Matuis.