AT the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the Commonwealth Ports Authority was hopeful that by this year, 2022, the tourism industry would be on its way to recovery.
Last year’s signing of a travel bubble agreement between the CNMI and its main tourism market, South Korea, resulted in an increase in bookings to the Commonwealth, exceeding projected numbers.
But just before 2021 ended, the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 forced the cancelation of flights around the world — including to the CNMI.
It has been reported that South Korean airlines servicing Saipan have either suspended flights or have reduced their service.
CPA Chairwoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds, in an interview, said the cancelation of some of the South Korean flights is not surprising. “We are seeing cancelations all over the world even during the holiday season when folks are trying to get to their families,” she added.
But what CPA is concerned about, she added, “is what this means for our economy and our budgetary planning process.”
“Back when the pandemic first started, we were hopeful that by this time we would see some sort of normalization with regard to arrivals,” she said. Now, she added, “it’s looking to be just as erratic and hard to predict.”
Right now, she said, “we have to pay very close attention to these trends — what they potentially mean when the federal [relief] funds run out — and plan accordingly.”
Tourists from South Korea prepare to board a van at the Saipan World Resort in November 2021.
