Here are the CNMI’s tourism numbers: Read ‘em and weep
- Admin
- Oct 8
- 4 min read
Saipan — Those who follow news from the Northern Mariana Islands are aware that its tourism numbers are “not good.” Here’s how bad they’ve been—based on official data from the Marianas Visitors Authority—since the current CNMI administration was sworn in over two years ago:
• January 2023: arrivals were up 506 percent. That sounds terrific — until you realize that the total number (12,432) was compared to January 2022, when Covid restrictions were still in effect and there were only 2,052 arrivals. In January 2020, pre-Covid, the figure was 55,686. In other words, arrivals decreased by 77.6 percent.
• February 2023: arrivals were up 255 percent, totaling 14,863, compared to very low February 2022 numbers. In February 2020, when Covid restrictions were beginning, the figure was 26,702 — already down 30 percent compared to February 2019’s 38,049, when the CNMI was still recovering from Super Typhoon Yutu.
• March 2023: up 189 percent with 12,005 visitors. In pre-Covid March 2019, arrivals totaled 32,295.
• April 2023: up 140 percent with 13,439 visitors. Pre-Covid April 2019: 49,198 arrivals
• May 2023: up 147 percent with 17,117 visitors. Pre-Covid May 2019: 38,582
• June 2023: up 102 percent with 21,287 arrivals. Pre-Covid June 2019: 42,076
• July 2023: up 142 percent with 25,089 arrivals. Pre-Covid July 2019: 45,570
• August 2023: up 148 percent with 24,128 arrivals. Pre-Covid August 2019: 47,489
• September 2023: up 136 percent with 19,483 arrivals. Pre-Covid September 2019: 37,022
• October 2023: up 80 percent with 19,731 arrivals. Pre-Covid October 2019: 34,670
• November 2023: up 45 percent with 15,800 arrivals. Pre-Covid November 2019: 39,717
• December 2023: up 55 percent with 20,067. Pre-Covid December 2019: 52,297
Long story short: the 2023 arrivals looked like an “improvement” over 2022 mainly because 2022’s numbers were dismally low.
Overall, the 2023 totals were bleak. For calendar year 2023, the CNMI welcomed 215,543 tourists. In pre-Covid 2019 — when the CNMI was still recovering from Yutu — the number was 424,858. CNMI tourism peaked in 1997 with 727,000 arrivals, and its best year since then was 2017 with 659,741 visitors: 50,944 from Japan; 334,740 from South Korea; and 233,986 from China. In FY 2025, these were the numbers: 4,717 Japan; 46,516 South Korea; and 5,080 China.
Local tourism-related businesses estimate they need at least 500,000 visitors a year just to break even. Many had hoped 2024 numbers would significantly improve over 2023.
But from January to May 2024, while figures remained “up,” they were still far below pre-Covid levels. Then things actually got worse:
June 2024: down 8 percent compared to June 2023 (which was already far below the pre-Covid numbers).
July 2024: down 14 percent
Aug. 2024: down 10 percent
Sept. 2024: down 26 percent
Oct. 2024: down 23 percent
Nov. 2024: down 22.5 percent
Dec. 2024: down 2 percent
The arrivals for calendar year 2024 totaled 228,963 — a 6.2 percent increase from 2023. Cold comfort.
This year, so far, the numbers are still breaking records — just not the kind we want:
Jan. 2025: down 26 percent
Feb. 2025: down 32 percent
March 2025: down 27 percent
April 2025: down 39 percent
May 2025: down 36 percent
June 2025: down 60 percent (!)
July 2025: down 33 percent.
I’m writing this in mid-September. The August numbers haven’t been released yet. But if the trend holds, fresh horrors likely await.
Now remember: the CNMI economy is tourism-based. Most, if not almost all, businesses in the Commonwealth are affected by this prolonged and persistent downturn in tourism. CNMI government revenue, not surprisingly, is also down. The only thing that prevented the Commonwealth’s financial collapse was the ARPA and other federal emergency assistance funds from the Covid days. That funding source is either depleted already or about to be gone. And then what?
Business leaders have repeatedly warned CNMI officials of the urgent need to boost tourist arrivals to prevent business closures and stem the continued exodus of local residents and workers.
Their concerns were either dismissed or mocked by the administration. They were called “pro-Chinese” and/or “corrupted/bought by China.” They were also lectured about geopolitics, specifically the tendentious version preferred by the administration. They were told that the U.S. military and the rest of the feds would rescue the CNMI from its economic perdition, which was supposedly “caused” by “dependency” on tourism — and not the lack of tourists.
Meanwhile, while we all waited for the arrival of the federal cavalry and the glorious transformation of the local economy, the administration wanted us to pay more taxes — in this economy. The administration couldn’t stop thinking about tomorrow — while blaming the past and neglecting the present.
Perhaps one day a future historian will look back on this era in CNMI history as a cautionary tale of how not to handle an economic crisis — and why, in Per L. Bylund’s words, economic literacy is a necessary starting point for effective policymaking.
Zaldy Dandan is the editor of the CNMI’s oldest — and only remaining — newspaper, Marianas Variety. His fourth book, “If He Isn’t Insane Then He Should Be: Stories & Poems from Saipan,” is available on amazon.com/.
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