HANMI hotel occupancy at 77 percent in March

The Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands reported a 76.52-percent average occupancy rate among 11 member-hotels in March 2019.

The figure reflects an 11- percent decrease for HANMI hotels compared to March 2018.

“Currently, Coral Ocean Golf Resort is still closed, and Saipan World Resort has fewer than 100 rooms open, as the rest are under renovation. Although the majority of our HANMI hotel rooms are in operation, optional tours are available, and visitor sites are open, we are still working to overcome the negative residual media attention from last year’s typhoon,” said HANMI chair Gloria Cavanagh. “We believe [international] media coverage from this month’s celebrity #MyMarianas Paradise Festival will help combat that, and HANMI and our members were very pleased to partner with the Marianas Visitors Authority and Commonwealth Council for Arts & Culture to make that mega-event possible.

Cavanagh

“In the meantime, we would like to move forward with the public land lease negotiations for Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan and Hyatt Regency Saipan so there will be no further hiccups in the generation of business gross receipt tax, hotel occupancy tax, and other revenue for the government, not to mention local jobs. We are in this together, and we are ready to move forward,” she said.

March’s average room rate of $140.39 was less than one dollar off the March 2018 mark.

A total of 55,594 of 71,344 available room nights sold in March 2019, compared to 71,115 of 81,529 available room nights sold over the same period last year.

“On a related, but old, note, the recent fire at a bed-and-breakfast reminds us of the importance of enforcement to monitor these kinds of establishments,” Cavanagh said. “These facilities must be subject to the same type of enforcement as all lodging facilities. This means payment of applicable taxes, fire permitting, sanitary requirements, zoning, and others. When we invite guests to our destination, their safety must be a priority. We urge our government to seek out these businesses and enforce the laws of the CNMI.”

HANMI was established in 1985 as a professional forum for the hospitality industry of the Marianas. HANMI also makes regular charitable donations to support non-profit organizations and tourism-related government projects.

Hotels included in HANMI’s monthly statistical reports are Aqua Resort Club, Aquarius Beach Tower, Century Hotel, GrandVrio Resort Saipan, Fiesta Resort & Spa, Hyatt Regency Saipan, Kanoa Resort Saipan, Kensington Hotel Saipan, LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort, Saipan World Resort, and Pacific Islands Club Saipan. (PR)