According to the Marianas Visitors Authority, arrivals to Saipan, Tinian and Rota registered 25,408 visitors in September compared to 29,917 in September 2010.
Overall, visitor arrivals were down 8 percent in FY 2011 to 338,106 visitors.
Arrivals from Japan dropped 30 percent to 11,872. In September, the NMI was scheduled to receive four flights a week on Fly Marianas but unfortunately a high percentage of these flights were cancelled due to operational issues.
In addition, in September the NMI received two daily flights from Narita compared to three daily flights in September 2010.
This situation is expected to improve when Delta Air Lines launches a third weekly flight again on December 29, 2011, supplementing the current two daily flights from Narita with four new flights a week using a Boeing 757 with 182 seats.
Arrivals from the primary market of Korea dropped 15 percent in September to 6,746 arrivals.
However, Korean visitor numbers are projected to increase significantly from November onwards, with a large number of additional air seats being added into the market to the NMI from both Seoul and Busan.
The secondary market of China saw 4,519 arrivals in September, a 93 percent increase compared to the same month last year.
Arrivals from China increased 15 percent overall in FY 2011 to represent 14 percent of total visitor arrivals to the Northern Marianas.
Arrivals from Russia continued their year-to-year growth that began in December 2010, posting a gain of 5 percent in September 2011 to 216 visitors.
The lucrative market was up 18 percent to 5,092 visitors in FY 2011.
MVA also reported a 187 percent growth in arrivals from Hong Kong in September to 89 visitors. Total visitor arrivals from Hong Kong reached 1,881 in FY 2011.
Arrivals from other markets were down in September: United States (-39 percent to 545), Guam (-3 percent to 1,217), Philippines (-2 percent to 40) and Other Areas (-18 percent to 164).
