According to the Marianas Visitors Authority, arrivals to Saipan, Tinian and Rota registered 29,917 visitors last month compared to 31,755 in Sept. 2009.
Arrivals from Japan dropped 19 percent to 16,992 visitors, largely due to the suspension of flights from Osaka due to low season travel demand.
Flights from Nagoya were suspended from Oct. 1, and flights from both cities are not expected to resume until mid-December for the holiday season.
The number of air seats from Narita also decreased in September, as Continental Airlines had operated double daily charter flights in September last year.
Finally, the combination of consecutive holidays during the Silver Week holiday in September last year resulted in record numbers of overseas travelers from Japan, while this year, the Silver Week holiday sequence was not as favorable for overseas travel, and total outbound from Japan fell as a result.
Japanese visitors comprise over half of all visitor arrivals to the Northern Marianas.
“Regular flights from source cities of Osaka and Nagoya in our primary market of Japan are key to the health of the industry,” said MVA Managing Director Perry Tenorio. “We need to do whatever is possible to ensure that these those flights operate year-round rather than seeing them suspended during the low season.”
Arrivals from the primary market of Korea posted an impressive 85 percent rise in Sept. 2010 over September last year, registering 7,958 visitors.
Due to high travel demand during the Korean Thanksgiving holidays called “Chuseok,” air seats from Korea saw an increase of 17 percent, with two 177-seat extra flights on Sept. 18 and 21 and extremely high booking levels throughout the month. Korean arrivals have been consistently higher since Dec. 2009.
The secondary market of China saw 2,377 arrivals in September, a 21 percent decrease over the same month last year. Overall, China has seen a 46 percent increase in arrivals this fiscal year. The number of air seats from China also decreased in September as charter flights from Guangzhou had operated in Sept. 2009.
Arrivals from other markets were down, including a 17 percent decrease from Russia to 205 visitors.
