Rep. Ramon S. Basa, Covenant-Saipan, said the government should re-examine its policies regarding the tourism industry to find out how to boost it.
An economist and educator, Basa said the Legislature plays a crucial role in rebuilding the tourism industry through passing business-friendly laws.
“People are suffering. But the problem with fixing the economy is it doesn’t happen overnight,” he said in an interview.
Basa said the low tax collection mirrors the major slowdown on economic activities on the islands.
More than 700,000 tourists, mostly from Japan, used to visit the CNMI in the 1990s.
After 2005, when Japan Airlines pulled out its 14 weekly flights on the Saipan route, arrivals plunged to 400,000, a number that continues to decrease.
