MVA Managing Director Perry Tenorio said the CNMI was banking on the influx of Filipino nurses who wanted to take the NCLEX here.
An NCLEX center, however, was opened in Manila last year.
“When we were promoting the island in the Philippines, it was for education-tourism — we were trying to get people to come to the CNMI and take the NCLEX here. Unfortunately, Manila now has testing center and this made an impact on the number of visitors coming here to take the test,” Tenorio said.
He said MVA is still optimistic in meeting its goal of bringing in 750,000 tourists yearly.
MVA, he added, understands Continental’s decision.
“Businesses need to see cost-benefits,” he said.
Now that Manila has its own NCLEX center, Tenorio said marketing Saipan in the Philippines is no longer viable.
In the past, at least 500 Philippine nurses arrived on Saipan each month to take the NCLEX, which is a requirement for those who want to work in the U.S.
Tenorio said the CNMI’s projected seats are based on its primary markets: Japan, Korea, Russia, and China.
“Based on our projection on seats and arrivals, we’re seeing an upward trend even after the (Japan Airlines’) pullout (in Oct. 2005). So we would like to remain optimistic,” he said, adding that Japan remains CNMI’s biggest tourism market.
MVA said it expects 282,481 visitors from Japan in fiscal year 2009.
MVA’s projection was also based on Northwest Airlines additional daily non-stop service from Tokyo starting on July 1 and Asiana Airlines’ intention to add three daytime flights in October.
