Resorts reopen, but flights are missing: Saipan's Korean tourism crisis

Korean visitor numbers plunged more than 85% in a year as typhoon damage, reduced air service and a weak won deliver a triple blow to the island's tourism industry

An aerial view of Managaha Island in Saipan [Marianas Visitors Authority]

A triple blow of natural disasters, flight cuts and a weak won has sent the number of Korean visitors to Saipan plunging more than 85% in a single year. The local tourism authority has identified expanding air service as the key to recovery, saying that normalizing tourism on the island is impossible without adding flights on the Incheon–Saipan route, which has fallen from as many as five daily departures to just four times a week.

The Marianas Visitors Authority said total arrivals to the Mariana Islands — which include Saipan, Tinian and Rota — fell 66% in July to 4,840, down from 14,365 in the same month a year earlier. Korean visitors, the single largest source of tourism to Saipan, dropped 85.7% over the same period, from 11,015 to 1,574. Japanese arrivals also fell sharply, declining 54% to 248 in July from 534 a year before. Chinese visitors showed some recovery, reaching 1,149, but not enough to reverse the overall decline.

Three factors are behind the slump: fewer flights, typhoon damage and the cost burden of a weak won. Air service from South Korea, Saipan's most important source market, began shrinking in 2024. Asiana Airlines suspended scheduled service to Saipan in February 2024 and ended charter operations in late June of that year, also closing its local office. Jeju Air, which had operated twice-daily flights on the Incheon–Saipan route, cut back to once daily from March 30 to July 12, 2025.

Combining departures from Incheon and Busan using data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's aviation information portal, annual flights on the Korea–Saipan route fell 31.7%, from 1,145 in 2024 to 782 in 2025. Over the same period, flights on the Korea–Guam route rose 24.5%, from 2,271 to 2,827, widening the supply gap between the two destinations. Total arrivals to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for fiscal year 2025 fell 32% to 160,640, from 237,498 the previous year.

Trees toppled by a typhoon in Saipan [Marianas Visitors Authority]

The typhoons that struck this year compounded the damage. Super Typhoon Shanshan hit in mid-April, causing widespread power outages and forcing the airport to close, halting international flights until June. Korean arrivals fell 90% year-on-year in April, 99% in May and 98% in June. Before the island could recover, Typhoon Bavi moved north in early July, further hampering reconstruction efforts.

The exchange rate added to the pain by making travel more expensive. The average annual won-dollar rate rose from 1,364 won in 2024 to about 1,484 won in the first half of this year — a gain of 120 won, or 8.8%, over two years. The higher cost weakened Saipan's appeal as a leisure destination compared with Southeast Asian alternatives.

Tourism authority calls for review of air supply

The golf course at Coral Ocean Resort Saipan [E-Land Park]

Despite the setbacks, local attractions are steadily coming back online. PIC Saipan resumed operations in July, while Coral Ocean Resort Saipan is preparing to reopen in November and Kensington Hotel Saipan in December.

The bottleneck is air supply. Jeju Air, currently the only carrier operating direct flights between Incheon and Saipan, plans to maintain four weekly departures through March 2027, with seasonal adjustments during peak and off-peak periods. Total seat capacity, however, remains far below pre-COVID-19 levels — at their peak in 2019, as many as five daily direct flights operated from Incheon to Saipan.

The tourism authority says that without adequate flights, recovery efforts will struggle to translate into actual bookings and visitor growth. Irregular schedules make travelers reluctant to commit and make it harder for travel agencies to build package tours. Resorts, unable to predict occupancy, face difficulties planning staffing and operations. The authority said a comprehensive review of travel demand and airline operating conditions on each route is needed to secure a workable level of air service.

The Marianas Visitors Authority has called for an examination of whether supply-maintenance regulations tied to the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines contributed to the reduction in Saipan service. When the government approved the merger, it required the combined carrier to maintain seat capacity at 2019 levels. The authority said it is necessary to examine whether airlines, in meeting that requirement, concentrated seats on the Guam route at the expense of Saipan — and whether the obligation, anchored to past benchmarks, still reflects current travel demand and route-by-route supply conditions.

The water park at PIC Saipan resort [E-Land Park]

Judy Torres, acting director of the Marianas Visitors Authority, said she hopes the South Korean government's planned review of air transport policy will serve as an opportunity to bring air supply to the Marianas to an appropriate level in line with current market conditions. "We believe it is necessary to closely examine how the seat-capacity maintenance requirements tied to the Korean Air–Asiana Airlines merger are affecting the Korea–Saipan route, and whether any unintended side effects have emerged in the process," she said.

Torres also said that securing flights goes beyond transportation — it is directly tied to the local economy. Stabilizing air supply is essential for the financial health of South Korean companies that have made large investments on the island, she added. E-Land Park currently operates three major resorts there: PIC Saipan, Coral Ocean Resort Saipan and Kensington Hotel Saipan. New Seoul Leisure has invested alongside Factum PE and others in the acquisition of Saipan World Resort, which features a large water park, while Hurim Networks has invested in the acquisition of Laolao Bay Golf & Resort, the island's only 36-hole golf course.

"Stable air supply on the Korea–Saipan route is not only critical for the South Korean companies that have invested in local hotels, resorts and golf courses — it is directly linked to the Marianas tourism industry as a whole," Torres said. "The Marianas Visitors Authority will continue to work closely with airlines and relevant authorities to expand flights on the Korea–Saipan route and create stable operating conditions."

terry@heraldcorp.com