Tourism in the Northern Marianas appears to have hit a plateau since last year, with the region seeing statistically insignificant gains in visitor arrivals.
The Marianas Visitors Authority says efforts by local officials to boost flights to the CNMI and advertise the islands as a tourist destination, brought just 474 more travellers to Saipan in the past year.
These report findings suggest that the local tourism industry's gradual recovery after major losses several years ago could take far longer than many had hoped.
The Visitors Authority has long attributed the slow progress in rebuilding the tourism market to factors such as, high airline ticket prices linked to rising fuel costs and economic turmoil in Asia.
Threats of a global recession arising from the financial crisis in the United States are also feeding fears of a domino effect on tourism and travel.
