Visitor arrivals down after 4 months of continued growth

Visitor arrivals to the Northern Marianas went down in March 2008 after four straight months of growth, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority.

Arrival numbers slumped by 3.74 percent to 32,349 in March 2008 compared to 33,606 visitors in the same period a year ago. This snaps the four-month streak of positive growth that began in November 2007.

Fiscal year-to-date (October 2007-March 2008) numbers also show a decline of 2.36 percent, from 210,363 to 205,395.

MVA said Japan arrivals continue to struggle as March 2008 showed a decrease of 16 percent to 18,135 compared to 21,685 during the same period last year.

One major factor that contributed to this decline, according to MVA, is the airline seat inventory for the month. In March 2007, there were a total of 24,248 seats from Japan which comprised daily flights from Narita and Nagoya and nighttime flights from Narita which came in three times per week and nine charter flights from Osaka.

For the same month this year, the CNMI’s tourism body said there were a total of 20,522 seats, which only include daily flights from Narita, Nagoya, and Osaka. This alone represents a 15-percent decline in airline seats from Japan in comparison to March 2008 and March 2007 numbers, respectively.

In contrast, Korean arrivals once again showed double-digit growth. March arrivals were up 14 percent to 7,169 compared to 6.271 in March 2007.

Fiscal year-to-date arrivals from Korea are also up a whopping 34 percent to 60,831 from 45,345 during the span last year, according to MVA.

“Korea has shown double-digit growth consistently over the last few months. Asiana Airlines and its parent company’s investments in the CNMI, combined with effective marketing strategies, are contributing factors in this growth,” said MVA.

March was also a positive month in terms of arrivals from China, as 2,260 visitors came to the CNMI in March compared to 1,583 in March 2007—a 43-percent hike in numbers.

MVA said airline seats contributed to the increase in visitor arrivals from the Middle Kingdom. In March 2007, the CNMI only had flights from Guangzhou, China, which brought in 1,782 seats for the month. However, in March 2008, the CNMI had flights from Guangzhou and Beijing, which provided a total of 2,884 seats which equated to an increase of 62 percent over the same time period last year.

Of notable importance, the arrival of MSS Statendam brought in 1,130 passengers which contributed to the growth in U.S. and others.

“Although our No. 1 source market of Japan continues to struggle, we are encouraged by the growth out of Korea,” said MVA managing director Perry Tenorio. “We continue to look for ways to increase air seats out of Japan into the CNMI in an effort to increase our arrivals from all regions of Japan.”