SENATE President Edith Deleon Guerrero, in her follow-up letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, echoed the local business community’s warning that “if no immediate action is taken to increase visitor arrivals, the CNMI economy faces a complete economic collapse.”
She was referring to the joint statement of Hotel Association of the NMI Acting Chairman Dennis Seo and Saipan Chamber of Commerce President Joe C. Guerrero in an economic forum during which they also presented their Operation 500K plan, which aims to bring at least 500,000 visitors to the CNMI each year. In 2023, visitor arrivals totaled 215,543 only.
Deleon Guerrero told Buttigieg that although USDOT has increased to 50 from 35 the number of flights from China to the U.S. following her request on Feb. 26, 2024 to exempt CNMI from the federal cap, USDOT has not acted on the request of the Commonwealth Ports Authority in August 2023, to reinstate Annex VI of the U.S.-China bilateral agreement.
Annex VI exempts the CNMI from flight frequency limitations between the U.S. and China.
The Senate president said CPA’s letter, which USDOT received almost one year ago, was supported by the CNMI Legislature, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, HANMI and U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.
“Time is of the essence in this matter,” Deleon Guerrero told Buttigieg.
In the meantime, she said, the CNMI’s economy “is worsening and slipping into crisis mode.” She said it is critical that the CNMI be allowed to bring in Chinese visitors to augment the loss of revenue from the CNMI’s low visitor arrival rates since the Covid-19 pandemic.
She also noted that since her Feb. 24, 2024 letter, Hyatt Regency Saipan and the local office of Asiana Airlines have closed their doors. She said there are also smaller businesses that have shut down and more are planning to do so in the coming months if there is no improvement in the CNMI’s economic activities.
Deleon Guerrero said USDOT’s cap on the weekly flights from China “is preventing the CNMI from restoring our Chinese visitor numbers.”
Prior to the pandemic, China was the CNMI’s second largest tourism market with 185,536 arrivals in 2019. In fiscal year 2023, Chinese arrivals totaled 4,309. Direct flights from mainland China to the CNMI have yet to resume.
Deleon Guerrero said the CNMI is requesting to restore an exemption that is already authorized and existed prior to the pandemic, and not requesting a new exemption.
The Senate president reiterated her request for a favorable response to CPA’s letter.
