Arrivals from all major markets registered double-digit declines in June.
Visitor arrivals to Saipan, Tinian and Rota registered 21,803 last month compared to 30,936 in June 2008.
Overall, the fiscal year total to date is 7.57 percent fewer visitors than the same period in 2008.
Most notable was the decline in the Russian market.
After posting consecutive monthly increases since the beginning of the fiscal year, Russia fell 43 percent to 478.
MVA industry partners indicate that the falloff in Russian arrivals in June was largely due to many consumers being under the impression that immigration federalization had been implemented as originally planned on June 1, 2009, and that they would need to procure a U.S. visa to visit the Northern Marianas.
“After such extraordinary performance in the Russian market since its inception, June’s arrival numbers were a reality check,” MVA Managing Director Perry Tenorio. “It’s a strong indication of what will happen to this market if the Northern Marianas does not keep visa waivers for Russia when the new federalization implementation deadline arrives on November 28. We can see that without visa waivers, the Russian market will dry out very quickly for us.”
Arrivals from the primary market of Japan dropped by 30 percent last month with 11,152 visitors compared to June 2008.
The drop is attributed to school and family trip cancellations and the suspension or postponement of business travel because of the H1N1 flu virus, combined with the lagging economy.
Arrivals from Korea fell by 30 percent in June 2009, registering 6,735 visitors.
On top of the WHO’s announcement upgrading the H1N1 flu virus to advisory level six, recent media reports on flu cases in nearby Asian destinations including China, Japan and Thailand, which are the top three outbound travel destinations, has affected overall outbound travel demand in June.
Arrivals from China plummeted 72 percent to 322 visitors.
Losses were also seen from Guam (-16 percent to 1,617), Taiwan (-83 percent to 5) and Philippines (-45 percent to 117).
Arrivals from the United States gained 14 percent to 858, and Other Areas nudged up 1 percent to 519.
