While other tourist destinations in the world have already recovered, the CNMI’s tourism industry continues to decline, he said.
“It has not been a very good year, but our neighbor Guam registered double digits growth while we still registered a single-digit decline,” he told officials attending the grand opening of the Tasi Tours’ newest marine sports business, Coconut Beach Club, behind the Saipan Grand Hotel, one of the local hotels owned by Tan Holdings in the CNMI.
Tan said as the former chairman of MVA, he knows that the local tourism industry is facing tough times.
He asked government leaders to help MVA fund its initiatives that are aimed to bring back the Japanese tourists to the CNMI.
There’s a good market for Koreans and Chinese but Japanese arrivals continue to decline, he added.
He pointed out that tourism is the only industry left on island.
In an interview, Fitial said Tan is only reiterating what his administration and the Legislature want to do to boost the Japanese market.
“The Legislature and my administration are working together to put together a tourist revitalization plan for the Japanese market,” he said.
The governor said he is confident MVA can do its job.
MVA wants to do more but government has no money, he added.
Still, Fitial said, the government is trying to identify funding sources to help MVA implement the tourism revitalization plan.
