By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
THE Marianas Visitors Authority is exploring opportunities to expand tourism from the Philippines, citing the country’s growing middle class and increased regional travel interest.
In a meeting with members of the NMI Society of Professional Journalists on Friday, MVA Managing Director Jamika Taijeron said Filipino travelers are showing strong interest in visiting Guam and the CNMI, with many already traveling to Guam under existing U.S. visa arrangements.
“The Philippines is seeing a huge increase in its middle class, and they’re really traveling,” Taijeron said. “I’ve been seeing a lot of social media posts from Filipino travelers going to Guam, but obviously they probably have their U.S. visa.”
To make travel more accessible, CNMI Gov. David M. Apatang recently sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security supporting the inclusion of the Philippines in the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program.
The program currently allows visa-free entry for nationals of Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom for up to 45 days for business or tourism in Guam and the CNMI.
“I reached out to Delegate [Kimberlyn] King-Hinds’ office to find out how that’s being pushed along through their channels,” Taijeron said. “They said they support it, and it is being reviewed internally on the congressional side.”
Taijeron said MVA strongly supports the initiative and sees potential for attracting airlines from the Philippines.
“We do see potential for growing the Philippine market here in the islands,” she said. “We also appeared before the CNMI Senate last week, and they had a similar discussion on whether this is something MVA would support — and we definitely do.”
She said MVA is also preparing to launch a new global branding campaign to attract visitors to the CNMI.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
