Micronesia - Services

The service sector provided an estimated 77 percent of GDP in 1996, and government services alone contributed 42.1 percent. The national and state governments in 1996-97 employed a total of 6,015 people, and services as a whole employed 63 percent of the labor force. Tourism is an increasingly important industry, and it is hoped that several projects to improve communications will further stimulate the sector, which has been hindered by the territory's remote location. The tourism industry was identified in the Asian Development Bank in mid-1995 as having the greatest potential for development and thus contributing to Micronesia's economic growth. Presently, most of the Federated States of Micronesia's tourism industry is inadequate and not competitive with destinations such as Guam and, soon, Palau. As of 1991, the most recent year for which such data are available, the Federated States of Micronesia's entire tourism industry (hotel, motel, and other accommodations) amounted to only 290 rooms, 144 of which were in Pohnpei, 80 in Chuuk, 26 in Yap, and 30 in Kosrae. Among the visitors from overseas, 60 percent are from the United States and 25 percent from Japan.