THE islands’ travel bubble with South Korea has been established so what’s next?
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on Friday said both parties still have to work out the details of the agreement, but he is optimistic about its implementation.
The Marianas Visitors Authority, especially its office in South Korea, will help ensure that visitors have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
In addition, he said, this week they will discuss every aspect of the travel bubble in the CNMI, from deplaning to going through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection process, the transportation to and from the airport and private partner sites within the travel bubble.
The governor said they will also review the CNMI healthcare declarations.
“We want to make sure that it is seamless. The process that we have here is really, really good… Those who have been traveling would understand and appreciate the system that we have today, and that’s what we want: to have a seamless process for them here in the CNMI.”
He added, “We have been promoting Saipan, Rota, and Tinian…. Hopefully a number of our tourists will be able to go to… both Rota and Tinian. Eventually, our goal is to also entice [them] to experience our last frontier, which is the Northern Islands. Hopefully that will happen sometime next year.”
Whether it be golfing, trips to Managaha or other water activities, the governor said the CNMI has been working tirelessly to make sure that visitors enjoy their stay on the islands.
“We have seen other destinations have travel bubble that is not as successful as they would want [it] to [be] or that we would want them to see as well. We are the first to have a travel bubble agreement with Korea and… I believe that this is the model that will make it a successful travel bubble agreement,” he added.
He noted the the low number of positive Covid-19 cases in the CNMI and the progress that the Commonwealth continues to make in achieving its herd immunity goal.
“So we’re optimistic… We’re comfortable about the pace that we have [set] and the system that we have. It’s just a matter of accepting and welcoming our first flight of tourists, [giving] them the best experience that they can get as we offer them our hospitality and make them a part of our community where they can enjoy our culture, our islands, our beaches, our weather, our water and, well, everything else.”
Ralph DLG Torres
