Previous Story
Despite climbing visitor arrivals Toursim industry is still in slump
|
Posted on Jun 01 1999
Although visitor arrivals record show that the numbers are climbing, it would be misleading to conclude that the island’s tourism economy is already on its way to recovery, according to Bart Jackson, board member and vice chair of the PR & Ad Committee of the Marianas Visitors Authority.
In his report during last week’s board meeting, Jackson said improvement in the current slump on the island’s main economy depends mainly on the increase on air seats from the current number of airlines servicing the CNMI.
MVA has been working with the Aviation Task Force in enticing new airlines to service the CNMI in a move to save the half-a-billion-dollar tourism industry. Efforts seem to be working well as the Korean visitors, the second biggest market, showed a steady increase in arrivals.
Since last year, Japan Airlines has been offering charter flights to increase Japanese visitor arrivals after Continental Airlines decided reduce further its direct service from Saipan to key cities in Japan.
With limited budget, MVA does not have enough funds to spend for promotion in Hong Kong and Taiwan beyond the usual practice of hiring a representative to maintain the CNMI’s presence.
MVA board chairman Dave M. Sablan said increased arrivals from these two destinations can be resolved by developing a demand for a carrier to service the CNMI.
But there may be a problem in enticing Taiwanese tourists to come here as many of those who have visited Saipan noted that the cost of coming to the CNMI is far higher than neighboring Asian destinations.Lindablue F. Romero
