Garapan

Garapan demonstrates how casino tourism can devastate rather than develop a small island economy. This main village on Saipan hosted what was supposed to be a $2 billion Chinese investment: Imperial Pacific International's casino resort, billed as bigger than Monte Carlo's Casino de Monte-Carlo. Instead, the project drew FBI raids, U.S. Department of Justice money laundering investigations, and was abandoned half-built, leaving rat-infested ruins on Saipan's beachfront. Imperial Pacific filed for bankruptcy in April 2024, owing more than $160 million to the government and creditors.

In August 2025, Team King Investments acquired the property for $12.95 million, a fraction of claimed investment value. The new investors promise to finish and reopen the resort, but their primary funder, Hiroshi Kaneko of Jaan Kyosei Group, faces his own legal troubles with over 1,000 Japanese retail investors suing for more than $70 million. The islands' tourism industry operates at roughly half of 2019 pre-pandemic levels, with direct flights from Japan discontinued and Chinese tourists politically unwelcome as the CNMI positions itself as "America's Asian border" amid U.S.-China competition.

Tourism contributes over 75% of GDP and employs more than half the workforce in this territory of approximately 47,000 residents. South Korea now provides most visitors, while authorities hope to restore Japanese airline routes. Most residents reportedly no longer want brick-and-mortar casinos after the Imperial Pacific disaster, prompting government exploration of internet gaming and sports betting instead. Garapan embodies how speculative foreign investment in gambling infrastructure can leave small economies worse off than before: federal relief funds now prop up what was supposed to be a private-sector tourism boom.