Tourism is economic infrastructure: from recovery to resilience in the Marianas
BY JAMIKA TAIJERONTaijeron
Resilience runs deep in the Marianas.* From the seafaring Chamorro and Carolinian ancestors who first settled these islands, through centuries of foreign rule, war, natural disasters, and pandemics, the people of the Marianas have endured repeated cycles of trials, hardship, and resilience. Once again, the Marianas is working to move forward from another challenge: a prolonged downturn in its primary economic driver, tourism.
The work of the Marianas Visitors Authority is carried out by a dedicated team that engages daily with businesses and communities across Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. I have had the privilege of working alongside this team first as a board member and, for the past year, as managing director. That role comes with heightened expectations from employers, workers, community leaders, and families whose livelihoods depend on a functioning visitor economy. These expectations are real, and they are felt every day.
Much of my time as managing director has been spent listening. Business owners speak candidly about the decisions they face: how many employees they can keep on payroll, whether inventory orders are still viable, how rising utility costs affect operations, and whether plans for expansion move forward or are put on hold. These are not abstract policy discussions. They are daily choices that shape economic stability across the Marianas.
Those conversations guide our work at MVA. Tourism activity is deeply connected to broader economic health, and our role extends far beyond promotion. The visitor economy supports thousands of jobs and businesses, and decisions related to tourism policy and investment have direct consequences for the private sector. Balancing immediate pressures with long-term competitiveness is practical work, and often personal.
Tourism therefore cannot be viewed as a discretionary sector or a standalone activity. It is often discussed narrowly through visitor arrivals, hotel occupancy, or advertising campaigns. While those metrics matter, they describe activity rather than function. Tourism operates as economic infrastructure. It supports employment, enables private enterprise, generates public revenue, and anchors long-term investment across the Marianas. Planning without recognizing this reality risks underestimating its reach
and importance.
Branding and marketing will always remain part of MVA’s mission, but they are not the most urgent issues facing the economy today. The more consequential discussion centers on air access, sustained investment, and policy alignment. These factors determine whether the economy stabilizes and grows or remains vulnerable to external shocks. Marketing alone cannot compensate for weaknesses in these fundamentals.
In an island economy, airlift serves the same purpose highways and ports serve in larger markets. It makes economic activity possible. Without reliable and competitive air access, tourism demand cannot scale, businesses cannot plan with confidence, and private investment slows. Geography leaves little room for alternatives. For the Marianas, participation in the global economy begins with connectivity.
Airlines make decisions based on risk, yield, and long-term viability. Smaller and remote destinations face challenges larger markets do not, including limited population, distance from source markets, seasonality, and exposure to global disruptions such as currency shifts, airline consolidation, and geopolitical tension. Destinations that remain competitive address these realities directly through route support, revenue guarantees, and coordinated public-private strategies. This is not unusual. It is how access to markets is protected.
Public investment in air service is often misunderstood as a subsidy. In practice, it is an investment in economic access. Each arriving seat represents spending that flows through hotels, restaurants, retail, transportation, tours, utilities, and wages. The multiplier effect is measurable. When air access weakens, the impact extends well beyond tourism. When connectivity improves, opportunity expands across the economy, including for businesses that do not directly serve visitors but rely on overall economic activity. This is why public and private partners in the Marianas continue to seek support for essential air service, relief from cabotage restrictions, and other measures that preserve access.
Another common misconception is the expectation of immediate returns. Aviation and destination development operate on long timelines. Routes require time to build awareness, traveler confidence, and trade distribution. Destinations that withdraw support too early often face greater costs later to regain lost routes or rebuild relevance. This lag is not failure. It reflects the nature of infrastructure investment.
Stable air access benefits the private sector first. Hotels gain predictability and can staff more effectively. Retailers and restaurants experience steadier traffic. Tour operators are better positioned to expand offerings and invest in new products. As activity increases, public revenues follow. Responsible public investment reduces risk for private capital and signals long-term commitment, often a deciding factor for business expansion or entry.
Recent years have made one lesson clear: recovery alone is not enough. The Marianas must now focus on resilience. Resilience is the ability to absorb shocks, adapt, and sustain economic activity over time. For a tourism-dependent island economy, resilience determines whether disruptions are temporary setbacks or prolonged periods of instability affecting households, employers, and public services.
One of the clearest risks exposed in recent years is over-reliance on a narrow set of source markets. Exchange rates, airline mergers, regulatory shifts, and geopolitical developments can alter travel patterns quickly. While these forces are beyond local control, their impact can be reduced through deliberate market diversification. Diversification is often framed as a marketing choice, but its function is economic. A broader visitor base reduces volatility, smooths seasonality, and supports a wider range of businesses and jobs.
That diversification, however, depends on connectivity. New markets require new or strengthened air routes, bringing the discussion back to aviation strategy and sustained investment. Connectivity is the foundation of resilience. Without it, diversification remains aspirational.
Resilience also requires moving beyond pre-pandemic tourism models. Traveler expectations have changed. The Marianas’ former “Blue! Blue! Blue!” approach worked in a time when sun, sand, and sea were enough. Today’s visitors increasingly value service quality, authenticity, sustainability, and meaningful experiences, from cooking chicken kelaguen with donne’ sali to sailing a lagoon on an outrigger canoe or experiencing the quiet of the night sky. Destinations that succeed invest not only in promotion, but in product quality and workforce capability. Trained guides, clean facilities, clear signage, cultural programming, and seamless visitor experiences all shape satisfaction and long-term reputation.
Policy and institutional alignment are equally critical. Tourism does not operate in isolation. Workforce development, travel and immigration policy, infrastructure planning, fiscal decisions, and land-use policy must move together. Fragmented approaches weaken outcomes regardless of marketing effort. Recent federal discussions surrounding the CNMI Economic Vitality and Security Travel Authorization Program underscore why policy stability matters. Lawful travel frameworks such as the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program operate under federal oversight and local compliance and play a direct role in sustaining businesses, employment, and public revenues. Policy decisions that overlook the Marianas’ unique circumstances risk undermining recovery and long-term resilience for a U.S. community working to rebuild.
Tourism institutions themselves also require stability in funding and authority. Long-term strategies cannot be executed under short-term assumptions. Confidence depends
on predictability.
The transition from recovery to resilience is not driven by a single decision. It is shaped by consistent choices over time. If tourism is treated as the economic infrastructure it is, the visitor economy can again serve as a source of stability and opportunity for the Marianas.
hat will require local leadership to recognize that while tourism ebbs and flows, investment support must remain steady. It will require federal partners to maintain data-driven, locally informed policies. And it will require the community to continue developing the experiences, services, and cultural authenticity that make the Marianas truly Far From Ordinary. The question is not whether the Marianas can afford to invest in tourism infrastructure, but whether it is prepared to make the long-term choices required to sustain its economy. mbj
— Jamika Taijeron is the managing director of the Marianas Visitors Authority. She can be reached at info@mymarianas.com
*The Marianas Visitors Authority uses “the Marianas” in its marketing efforts, rather than the Northern Mariana Islands.
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