Sen. Celina R. Babauta speaks during a press conference on Tuesday in her office on Capital Hill.
THE Guam Visitors Bureau is holding a two-day Bisita Luta familiarization tour that could bring back to life Rota’s tourism industry.
The fam tour began on May 15, 2024 and will end today, May 17, 2024. It is a joint effort by GVB and the Rota Mayor’s Office to increase tourist arrivals to both Guam and the CNMI in light of United Airlines’ launching of its Guam-Haneda flight service on May 1.
Last week, Senate Vice President Donald Manglona, Sen. Celina Babauta, House Floor Leader Edwin Propst and Rep. John Paul Sablan joined GVB and other Guam officials on a trip to Tokyo, Japan. Their mission was to meet with Japan’s tourism officials and representatives of tour agencies and airlines, and express a “One Marianas” spirit to boost tourism and relations with Japan.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Babauta told reporters that the joint travel mission by Guam and CNMI officials to Tokyo was a “collaboration on strategic initiatives to promote the future of tourism in the region.”
She said they met with key Japanese dignitaries and industry stakeholders to jointly advocate for increased tourist arrivals to both Guam and the CNMI, particularly Rota. She said this collaborative effort “signifies a strong commitment to boosting tourism in the region.”
She also said as a direct result of the productive meetings with Japan’s tourism stakeholders, GVB and the CNMI came up with four chartered flights to Rota to host the familiarization tour designed to introduce and welcome officials from the Department of Defense’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation program “to the beauty and uniqueness of Rota.”
This targeted approach, Babauta said, aims to showcase Rota’s potential as a premier destination for U.S. military personnel and their families.
“I acknowledge and express my deepest gratitude for the invaluable assistance and visionary leadership of former Gov. Carl T.C. Gutierrez and his dedicated team at GVB in both Guam and Japan,” Babauta said.
Manglona, for his part, gave special recognition to GVB’s global marketing director, Nadine Leon Guerrero, and her marketing team, for their “instrumental role in taking this significant first step to support tourism development” on Rota.
He said these efforts will pave the way for increased tourist arrivals to both Guam and the CNMI. “With continued collaboration and strategic initiatives, the future of tourism in the region shines bright,” he added.
In a separate interview, Sablan expressed gratitude to Gutierrez, the GVB president and CEO, for inviting him and his fellow CNMI lawmakers to the travel mission, which gave them the opportunity to meet with the decision-makers in Japan’s tourism industry.
Sablan said he was honored to be there with other delegates from the CNMI and Guam, which, he added, “brings hope” to the Commonwealth’s tourism industry.
Sablan said it was GVB that paid for their travel, and not a single dime of the CNMI was spent on the trip.
