THE Covid-19 pandemic has brought significant change to the tourism industry and the way people travel, said Tatiana Babauta, product development marketing manager, Marianas Visitors Authority.
Tatiana Babauta
“The major challenge for the CNMI tourism industry is to rebuild trust with travelers and make them want to visit our destination again, and to experience life in the Marianas,” she added.
“The CNMI’s major advantage as of today is that we have not had any Covid-19 community transmission for over five months and vaccinations have been administered in the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota,” she said.
“Another advantage is that we have nature, culture, and a variety of outdoor activities.”
Babauta said, “In today’s world, [one way of] building trust is by providing information that our destination is safe and all the necessary precautions are in place.”
She added, “We are the destination of choice — we will continue working with our partners in both the public and private sectors to make the islands accessible to tourists in [the] safest way possible.”
Babauta said the “new normal travel” involves safety measures, which include social distancing, wearing face masks, washing of hands, sanitation, temperature check, contact tracing, and PCR or antigen testing.
“Travelers need reassurance that the destination they choose takes the necessary steps to reduce the risk of infection. In addition, travelers will choose destinations that have managed and controlled the pandemic — the low-risk destinations.”
Babauta said potential travelers are “very cautious about health guidelines that hotels, airlines, restaurants, stores, and other establishments are implementing.”
In the CNMI, she added, the Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation “did a fantastic job in monitoring and ensuring that the compliance of each business establishment, including hotels, [involved having] procedures and protocols in place to keep visitors and staff safe.”
Babauta told Variety that it is important to restart the tourism industry as soon as possible.
“A travel bubble [with South Korea] is a great option that enables us to open our borders without compromising the safety of our community,” she added.
For the CNMI tourism industry, Babauta said the travel bubble is “the beginning of welcoming back travelers, as well as rebuilding our only industry,” which shut down in March 2020 amid the Covid-19 global pandemic.
The travel bubble with South Korea, once implemented, can serve as a model for other travel bubbles, she added.
Meanwhile, she said, MVA, the Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force and CHCC have developed safety measures and steps to ensure that our community remains safe when the tourism industry reopens.
For example, she said, travelers will be required to provide negative Covid-19 test results within 72 hours before departure.
Moreover, all travelers will be required to take the Covid-19 test upon arrival, and must undergo a mandatory five-day quarantine with a Covid-19 test on the third and fifth days, Babauta said.
MVA recently announced that the new launch date for the travel bubble with South Korea is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 5, 2021.
