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The Department of Finance is now behind by $1.9 million on its budget allotment for the Marianas Visitors Authority, causing a delay in MVA payments to its marketing offices.

MVA managing director Vicky Benavente reported that the tourism agency last got funding from the Finance Department on July 14. The $370,000 that MVA received was its partial allotment for the third quarter of fiscal year 2004—which covers the months of April, May, and June.

The MVA has a total budget appropriation of $7 million for the current fiscal year.

So far, the agency has received only “a little over $3 million,” Benavente said. This amount does not include the $858,000 that MVA passed on to the Department of Lands and Natural Resources for the care of tourism sites; the 1 percent of the budget paid to the Office of the Public Auditor; and the 2 percent budget reserve.

“The funding shortage is not something that we are complaining about. We understand that the government is facing financial problems. But it is a major concern for us being the government’s marketing arm, because we have to continually advertise and promote our destination,” Benavente said.

She noted that due to the funding delay, MVA’s vendors and off-shore marketing offices in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and China have to wait for more than 30 days to get paid.

She added that the agency is also implementing various cost-cutting measures, such as holding off the replacement of personnel who have resigned.

Various positions at the tourism office were left vacant following the resignations of MVA’s human resource manager, accountant, and research clerk. MVA also has yet to hire a replacement for Benavente, who served as deputy managing director during Jonas Ogren’s two-year term as MVA managing director.

Ogren, decided not to renew his contract, which expired on June 18.

In the meantime, MVA public relations and community programs manager Martin Duenas will serve as acting deputy managing director.

“We decided to hold the line and not fill these vacancies until the new fiscal year begins and we see how MVA’s finances are going to look like. Besides, I am very comfortable with the staff and management that we have right now,” Benavente said.

Still, she added that the MVA board of directors has instructed her to hire a deputy managing director three months from now. “It’s a big job to manage MVA and I could really use some help,” she said.

Next in MVA’s hiring priority list is the position of assistant marketing manager for Rota. At present, the agency has only eight personnel on the island—all of whom are tasked with tourist site maintenance and repair.

To save money, MVA is also limiting the number of its delegates to off-island travel fairs and marketing events, Benavente said.

A small contingent—including only new MVA board members B.K. Park and Yoichi Matsumura, and Benavente—will represent the agency in the Weddex travel fair in Seoul, Korea from Aug. 4 to 6.

Held twice a year, Weddex is the biggest exhibition of wedding merchandise in Korea.