The beginning of tourism on Saipan

By William H. Stewart
Special to the Saipan Tribune

Reflections on the past value as “thumbnail” benchmarks by which to measure and compare the present. Some call it memories of a time long gone.

Second of six parts

People who have read these infrequent columns may have noticed that one of my interests is the economic history of the Northern Marianas and the people and conditions that influenced it. Few will probably recall the birth of the tourism industry in the Northern Marianas. The year was around 1970, a time when the federal minimum wage was $1.60 an hour; gasoline was 35 cents a gallon and a round trip airline ticket to Guam was $28. A new, two-door Mazda delivered to Saipan was $1,650. The yen was 350.8 to the dollar and the Japanese could only purchase the equivalent of $743 dollars as a result of currency restrictions in that country. Hardly a market on which to base a tourism industry—yet three men in the Marianas had the courage and foresight to do so.

The three individuals largely responsible were Ken and Bob Jones and Dave Sablan. The Jones brothers were investors in the old Royal Taga Hotel where the Diamond now stands. Dave Sablan was instrumental in locating the financing for the Pan American Intercontinental Inn in 1973, now the Saipan Beach Dai Ichi. Dave’s father, Elias P. Sablan, also owned a small motel-type facility. All this happened more than 35 years ago. That’s when tourism started. These men are the fathers of tourism in the Commonwealth and it wasn’t easy. When these people speak it’s wise to heed their words. They have “been there, done that.” Yet, to my knowledge, unfortunately none of them have ever held elected political positions where their business acumen could be put to good use in efforts to stimulate legislative reforms needed to “jump start” the economy at this time.

The Taga was the first full-service unit and consisted of 56 rooms, a pool and a very good dining room. It was the center of the island’s social life with live music in the lounge featuring a Palauan singer, “Johnie B.,” the Frank Sinatra of the Pacific. The Taga had the first Duty Free Shop on the island which was slightly larger than a telephone booth placed sideways and was the site of a radio station.

Those were the days of a four engine, 84 seat DC-6 Continental Air Micronesia aircraft and its single daily flight, which landed on a coral airstrip at Isley Field. Since the airstrip was unlighted there were no scheduled night arrivals. Prior to landing the aircraft made a single pass—sometimes two—over the field to check the wind direction and to frighten any stray dogs or cattle that may have wandered onto the field. It flew with an “on-board mechanic” and its own spare parts since the nearest repair facilities were many thousands of miles and days away. The terminal building—if a tin shack can be termed as such—was without glass in the window openings. With its paint peeling and bleached by an unrelenting sun with a hot and humid interior, the small wooden structure was a refuge for departing passengers when ever the plane finally arrived-no doubt thinking that what the wind and noise brings—it will soon carry away. Then, when all was quiet and the building abandoned, they returned to their lazy, undisturbed slumber.

For many years Air Micronesia was the only travel link many had with the world beyond the horizon. Two factors are responsible for the association of the far-flung islands of the Federated States of Micronesia, (Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk and Yap). Continental Air Micronesia connected them by the contrails of its engines and a billion dollar “pipeline” to the U.S. Treasury. If there is a quid pro quo for the latter I have yet to figure it out.

A friend of mine was an “Air Mike” pilot. Larry “Sky” King’s idea of a good time was to fly through one of Micronesia’s raging typhoons. He said it “broke the monotony of long flights.” I was once on one of his flights during a storm and swore I would never fly again. It’s highly recommended for a severe case of constipation.

In those days the air route servicing the Micronesian Islands within the Trust Territory, an area extending from the Marshall Islands to Palau and the Northern Marianas, was to be awarded by the U.S. government to only one of two carriers. At the time Pan Am already operated an around-the-world flight with a stop on Guam. It has also operated the Trust Territory’s single aircraft. The Trust Territory hierarchy insisted that the air route from Hawaii would be awarded to the airline that agrees to construct hotels in each of the then six island districts of the Trust Territory. In 1973 Continental Air Micronesia build the Continental Hotel, which boasted the first elevator on the islands. It later became the Hyatt Regency. The airline also built and operated two other small hotels in Palau and Truk (Chuuk). To compete for the route, Pan Am constructed the Intercontinental Inn—now the greatly enlarged Dai Ichi Hotel—and that hotel would not have been built at the time had it not been for the efforts of Dave Sablan who, through lots of hard work, convinced the air carrier to make the investment. It soon became the island’s evening “in place.”

Continental Air Micronesia won the route award. The Northern Marianas gained two fine hotels, which marked the “take off” of Saipan’s tourism industry along with the Royal Taga. The Hafa Adai Hotel soon followed with a few plywood bungalows each about the size of a 40-foot container. It has since expanded many times and now dominates the Garapan skyline.

For awhile in the early ‘70s Guam and Saipan were connected to the U.S. by TWA, Pan Am, Braniff and South Pacific Airways (SPIA in the ‘80s) and, of course, Continental.

A few of the other businesses that come to mind—all long since gone—are Fireside Restaurant, Bank of America, Pan Am ticket office, RCA, Micro Hut, Capital Hill Snack Bar, the Chamorro Island House and Tetsuo’s Glass Bottom Boat (the only one in the lagoon).

Other businesses that have disappeared more recently include: the Lighthouse Restaurant, Cow Town, Rainbow Dairy, Pacific Island Airways, Taipei Revolving Restaurant, Deak Perera, House of Taga Restaurant, Commonwealth Bank of the Northern Marianas, Islander Inn, Ship Ashore, Rudolpho’s, Bon Marche (L’Avenue), Coconut House Restaurant and the Chamorro Island Hut. And now, Hakubotan and the La Fiesta San Roque Shopping Mall must be added to the list, along with a number of garment firms.

To be continued.

(William H. Stewart is an economist, historian, and military cartographer.)