A Japanese couple from the MS Asuka II cruise ship poses for a photo at Imperial Pacific International’s unfinished casino-hotel building in Garapan on Friday. CNMI tourism arrivals and hotel occupancy rates are still way below their pre-pandemic levels.
(MVA) — According to monthly statistics from the Marianas Visitors Authority, arrivals to Saipan, Tinian and Rota decreased 2% to 19,598 visitors in December 2024, compared to 20,067 visitors received in December 2023.
In December, visitor arrivals from South Korea registered 14,186, 13% lower than 16,369 visitors received in December 2023. The Marianas received 88 flights from Korea this December compared to 97 flights in December 2023, largely due to the suspension of Asiana Airlines operations to Saipan since July 2024 and the suspension of Jeju Air’s second daily flight from Seoul through the first week of December. Jeju’s night flight resumed on Dec. 8, and seasonal twice weekly charter flights from Busan began on Dec. 20. The ongoing impeachment of the country’s president and the Dec. 28 plane crash in Muan, South Korea that killed 179 passengers are negatively affecting the country’s outbound travel, with tens of thousands of outbound travelers cancelling their travel plans. Due to current events, MVA’s initial projection for a solid performance of Korean arrivals to the Marianas this year is being conservatively adjusted.
Visitor arrivals from Japan registered 1,886 in December 2024 compared to 888 visitors in December 2023, a 113% increase. The increase was buoyed by the port call of cruise ship MS Asuka II on Dec. 31 with 793 passengers and crew.
China arrivals in December 2024 reached 1,143 compared to 514 arrivals in December 2023, an increase of 122% facilitated by Hong Kong Airlines’ twice weekly flights started in April 2024 between Hong Kong and Saipan. Prior to the pandemic, China was the second largest source market of visitors to the Marianas with multiple direct flights a week from five cities under Annex VI under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “U.S.-China Air Transport Agreement,” which provided an exemption for the Marianas from the cap on the number of U.S.-China flights. MVA also had a representative office in China at that time.
In December the Marianas received 1,226 visitors from Guam, 767 visitors from the U.S., and a combined 390 visitors from all other markets.
