The Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands (HANMI) projects low hotel occupancy for the remaining months of the year.
They’re attributing the high vacancy rate, with two out of three hotel rooms in the CNMI empty, to the strong U.S. dollar and intense competition from other premier destinations.
Having 11 hotel members, HANMI reported a 37% decrease in the average occupancy rate for October 2024, compared to last year. More than 20,000 of 65,020 available rooms were sold in October of this year. This is compared to 31,600 of 63,248 available rooms sold the year before. The average room rate was $119.87 versus $135.13 in Oct. 2023.
According to HANMI, hotels typically require around 70% to 80% hotel occupancy to stay in operation.
In a press statement, HANMI Chair Dennis Seo said as a destination, “the Marianas is losing traction at this point, not recovering. The strong dollar exchange rate and competition from other destinations has resulted in a continuous decrease in hotel sales prices.”
The HANMI official said this indicates that the profitability of hotels is declining or that they are operating at a loss. “The tourism economy has not bounced back for us,” Seo added.
The prolonged slump in hotel occupancy is creating ripple effects across the Northern Marianas’ economy, impacting businesses that rely on the tourism sector.
