Tourism chief: Saipan too reliant on Chinese
The Guam Visitors Bureau says it will draw more visitors to the island through non-gaming attractions, tourism officials tell the Guam Post Daily. The reason stems in part from concerns about a drop in Japanese tourism to the new Imperial Pacific resort in the neighboring island of Saipan.
“Japanese are not into casinos,” said GVB Chairman Milton Morinaga.
Guam is part of the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a South Pacific island chain that also includes Saipan. According to GGRAsia, despite a report that Saipan “has seen a vast improvement to its economy as a result of legalizing the casino industry,” the number of visitor arrivals from Japan has declined 16 percent. But visitor arrivals from China and South Korea have steadily climbed, the same report indicated.
Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International Holdings, which runs the Saipan integrated resort, pays an annual fee of US$15 million (MOP1.20 billion) to the CNMI Treasury for its casino license.
Now that Japan has legalized IRs, Morinaga says, tourism to the U.S.-controlled island chain could drop even more. He said tourism in Saipan is “fragile” due to its reliance upon Chinese visitors. If visitor arrivals from that country decline further, it would “greatly” affect its casino industry.
