Marianas Visitor Authority Director Jamica Tyrone told the House Ways and Means Committee that MVA is seeking a $10.9 million FY2026 budget and asked lawmakers to allocate the full projected hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) to MVA and supplement that with an additional $5.2 million from other fiscal resources.

“When we invest in tourism, we grow revenue, not just for MVA, but for the entire CNMI,” Tyrone said in opening remarks to the committee. She warned that flight service remains fragile and that tourism revenue losses affect retirees, mayors and government services.

Why it matters: Tourism drives broad local revenue, and MVA said insufficient funding will reduce marketing, events and site maintenance, risking flight suspensions and slower recovery. Tyrone presented three budget scenarios that she said show sharply different outcomes for visitor arrivals, HOT collections and MVA operations.

Key details and MVA scenarios
- Scenario 1 (the “ask”): $10,900,000 total budget. MVA estimates HOT collections of $7,900,000 with net MVA collections of $5,700,000 after deductions; to reach $10.9 million MVA requests the full HOT allocation plus an additional $5,200,000 from the legislature.
- Scenario 2 (mid case): $6,400,000. MVA said this would sustain current programs and staffing but leave airline uncertainty and stagnant tourism; MVA would still seek a $2,800,000 legislative supplement under this scenario.
- Scenario 3 (HOT-only): $3,584,000, funded only by projected HOT revenue. MVA described this as resulting in substantial cuts to offshore marketing, canceled events, reduced maintenance, staffing reductions and “continued economic decline.” MVA said it would collect about $4,900,000 in HOT under this scenario and operate with roughly $3,500,000, a $2,800,000 reduction in programs.

Funding sources and reimbursements
- Tyrone and MVA staff said they are using Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG‑DR) funds for offshore marketing and trade shows. MVA reported a total CDBG‑DR award of $7.5 million; $2.7 million has been reimbursed so far and $1.4 million of approved projects are ongoing. MVA staff said there are roughly $300,000 in invoices waiting for reimbursement and that they have identified about $1.6 million in local payments that could be submitted for CDBG‑DR reimbursement.
- MVA reported using reserves to pay vendors up front and seeking reimbursement later. Chief accountant Eds Casper Doressa told the committee that MVA’s reserve account currently holds about $2.8 million; roughly $2.5 million of that is the building fund.

Offshore offices and marketing contracts
- Tyrone disclosed annual contracts for offshore representative offices: Korea office $1,800,000 and Japan office $1,000,000. She said those offices run marketing programs, fam tours, influencer visits and trade outreach in-market.

Air service, seat negotiations and partner incentives
- Committee members and MVA staff discussed an absence of a formal interagency task force; Tyrone said MVA has proposed a governor-led task force to coordinate agencies and private partners and expected to formalize it in coming weeks. In practice MVA said it meets biweekly with Commonwealth Ports Authority (CPA) and works with travel agencies and airlines individually.
- MVA marketing manager Thomas Kim described how MVA uses offshore offices and a travel-agency support program to secure hard-block seats with travel agencies, then brings those offers to airlines and provides marketing or monetary support to make seat prices viable.
- Panelists discussed using incentives across local agencies (for example, CPA landing-fee adjustments) so any subsidy stays in the local economy rather than sending money offshore.

Airline status updates
- MVA told the committee that Jeju Airlines would operate two flights a week through October with a tentative one-per-day winter schedule pending further negotiation; T’Way is operating one daily flight but expects periodic suspensions in August–October; Hong Kong Airlines had indicated a possible restart toward September at about two weekly flights with potential to increase if demand and support warrant it.

Staffing and operations
- Tyrone said MVA has 41 full-time-equivalent positions with about 10 vacancies; she also stated there are 31 employees currently on staff (MVA described some discrepancy between filled positions and authorized FTEs and noted the vacancies are driven by lack of funding to onboard staff). MVA said staff are distributed across Saipan, Tinian and Rota and that unfilled positions constrain operations.

Sports tourism and capital needs
- Tyrone described recruitment of sports groups (including engagement with the Korean Baseball Organization) and said a pitcher's bullpen and related repairs would cost about $145,000. MVA described these improvements as both community assets and tourism infrastructure needed to host winter training and sport groups.

Committee requests, next steps and finance figures
- Committee members asked MVA for a detailed breakdown of CDBG‑DR spending and for third‑quarter projections. Secretary of Finance Tracy Bridal reported revenue figures to the committee: total HOT revenue collected to date $3,500,000, an 80% trust share of $2,800,000 and total payment to MVA of $2,500,000 to date.
- Committee members said they will deliberate the administration’s proposed budget and consider ways to coordinate incentives, use external funding to free local HOT funds and pursue unified branding across agencies.

Quotes from the record
- "When we invest in tourism, we grow revenue, not just for MVA, but for the entire CNMI," Jamica Tyrone said.
- "By law, MVA receives only 72.4% of HOT collections," Tyrone said, explaining distributions to the settlement fund, mayors and the Department of Finance reduce MVA's share.
- "Our total revenue collection is $3,500,000 to date. The 80% share to MVA is $2,800,000...overall payment to MVA is $2,500,000," Secretary of Finance Tracy Bridal told the committee.

No appropriation vote recorded
- The committee did not take a final appropriations vote on MVA funding at the hearing. Members directed MVA to provide detailed CDBG‑DR spending records, third‑quarter projections and further documentation to support budget deliberations.

Looking ahead
- MVA and the committee characterized the situation as fragile: MVA requested legislative support to implement an aggressive three‑year growth plan, and committee members signaled willingness to explore coordinated incentives with CPA and other partners. The House Ways and Means Committee will consider MVA’s materials during budget deliberations; no enacted changes were decided at the hearing.

Ending note
- MVA asked lawmakers for alignment, investment and leadership to sustain recovery and warned that the choice between the scenarios presented would materially affect flights, jobs and local services.