MVA: Nearly 30K less tourists in 2005

The CNMI played host to 506,846 visitors in 2005—nearly 30,000 tourists less than the 2004 total—even as the pullout of Japan Airlines’ regular flights to Saipan only began during the last quarter last year.

Enhancing visitor arrivals to the CNMI poses a big challenge to the new administration of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, who declared in his recent inaugural speech his target of attracting one million visitors yearly, which is almost double the 2005 tourist arrival turnout.

The 2005 total reflects a 5.42-percent drop from the number of tourists who came to the islands in 2004—535,873—even as JAL’s pullout took effect only in the latter part of the year, particularly on Oct. 4, 2005. Tourism industry players fear that the airline’s pullout would translate to a loss of over 100,000 tourists yearly.

The number of Japanese visitors settled at 351,739 in 2005. The tourist market suffered consistent decline following JAL’s pullout in October.

Some 22,591 Japanese came to the islands in October 2005—21 percent less than October 2004’s 28,586. The trend continued in November, when Japanese arrivals dropped by 28 percent from 30,454 in 2004 to 21,893 in 2005. The market further plunged by 29 percent in December, with only 24,047 Japanese coming to the Northern Marianas vis-à-vis December 2004’s 34,015.

The year’s last quarter arrival figures recorded by the Marianas Visitors Authority show that only 68,531 Japanese tourists came to the islands during the period, significantly lower than 93,055 Japanese tourists who visited the Northern Marianas during the same period in 2004.

The last quarter arrivals translated to a 26-percent decline for the period, which translates to 24,524 less tourists from Japan following JAL’s pullout. The loss accounts for 84-percent of the total decline in tourist arrivals for the entire year.

While the CNMI’s premier market suffered a major setback with the airline’s pullout, Korean tourists totaled 69,952 in 2005, based on MVA statistics.

The market posted significant growth during the last quarter of the year—70 percent in October when 2005 figures increased to 5,369 from only 3,156 in 2004; 38 percent in November, with 2005 arrivals settling at 6,503, higher than 2004’s 4,723; and 14 percent in December, when 7,402 Koreans came to the islands in 2005, surpassing the high 2004 total of 6,492.

The last quarter alone saw 19,274 Korean visitors, higher by 4,903—a 34-percent growth—than the same period in 2004, which played host to only 14,371 Koreans. In December 2005, Asiana Airlines introduced three additional flights weekly, augmenting the daily flights from Seoul to Saipan to accommodate high travel demand from Korea, for a total of 10 inbound flights weekly.

Chinese tourists totaled 32,920 last year. The last quarter showed a 5-percent improvement in Chinese arrivals from 9,031 in 2004 to 9,510 in 2005.

Last year’s visitor arrivals from the United States totaled 14,821; Guam, 22,845; and the Philippines, 3,168. Only 2,588 Taiwanese visitors came to the islands, while 2,810 visitors from Hong Kong went to the Northern Marianas in 2005.