Marianas Visitor Authority asks House Ways and Means for $10.9 million to shore up fragile tourism recovery

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…