Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, center, poses for a photo with Honest Profit International Limited (Saipan) Director Ziming Chen, left, and Marriot International Regional Vice President for Hotel Development Peter Gassner after the signing of a hotel management agreement at the Hyatt Regency Saipan ballroom on Tuesday.
MARRIOTT International Inc. on Tuesday signed a hotel management agreement with Honest Profit International Limited for the operation of the Saipan Marriott Resort & Spa which will open in San Antonio “hopefully in 18 months.”
Marriott International Regional Vice President for Hotel Development Peter Gassner and HPIL (Saipan) Director Ziming Chen signed the agreement in the presence of Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang and other CNMI officials at 12 noon at the Hyatt Regency Saipan ballroom.
Based in Maryland, Marriott International has over 8,300 hotels and a total of about half a million guestrooms, spanning 138 countries and territories.
In 2014, HPIL, which has a 25-year land lease contract with the Department of Public Lands, started the construction of a $130 million hotel on public land north of the Pacific Islands Club in San Antonio.
However, the construction has been delayed by a lack of construction workers due to federal restrictions on the hiring of guest workers, which were compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
In his remarks on Tuesday, Gassner said “Saipan has been on our list for quite some time.”
Now that they have gone through the challenges of the pandemic, he said, “we are excited to be…formally entering into this partnership” to build a new hotel on Saipan with 310 guestrooms and five villas.
Gassner said they plan to bring customers from their key markets: Korea, China, Taiwan and other countries in Southeast Asia.
He said the new hotel will open its doors “hopefully within 18 months from now.”
In an interview after the signing of the agreement, Gassner said Marriott International has been working with HPIL on the partnership for a few years now and has been giving the developer some guidance so the hotel can be designed according to Marriot brand standard.
Nine years of the 25-year land lease agreement have already passed, but Gassner said, “We should be okay with it [and] hopefully, if the lease in the future will get extended, we should be staying longer. It’s difficult, but it is possible…. We hope that a lease extension will happen in the future.”
Chen, for his part, said they have enough construction workers to complete the construction of the hotel.
He also said that the signing of the hotel management agreement would not have been possible without the guidance, cooperation and full support of the CNMI government.
He expressed his appreciation to Governor Palacios, Lt. Governor Apatang and other CNMI officials. He likewise thanked HPIL’s private sector partners, most especially the Marriott International which, he said, has “the most powerful portfolio in the global hotel and hospitality industry.”
“We are proud to be their partner,” he added.
“We at HPIL are very passionate and have a great desire for a successful hotel on Saipan. We love the hospitality, the generosity and the friendly people of Saipan. To make our dream and our hope become a reality, we wanted to make sure we engage with a highly visible and reputable hotel chain…who understands our Pacific islanders’ tourism community,” Chen said.
“Marriott International attaches great importance to the CNMI and is very optimistic about Saipan’s future market. With the new HPIL-Marriott relationship, and with Marriott joining our Saipan community, we believe this will improve the quality of tourism throughout our CNMI,” he added.
He said they will continue to work hard to promote the project despite labor shortages, typhoons and the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
In an interview after the signing agreement, Chen said the completion of the hotel’s construction will be HPIL’s responsibility. What they signed on Tuesday, he said, is an agreement on hotel management and operation.
Commendable commitment
In his remarks, Governor Palacios said HPIL “demonstrates a commendable commitment [by] joining forces with Marriott, a venerated icon in the hospitality industry, to contribute positively to our local landscape.”
“Together, they are not merely forging a business accord, but nurturing a legacy of cooperative endeavor and shared aspiration towards a vibrant and resilient community,” the governor added.
The signing of the hotel management agreement between Marriott and HPIL, he said, is a testimony to the resilience and potential of the CNMI in attracting responsible and reputable enterprises.
“Your investment is a vote of confidence in our people, our culture and our future,” he told Gassner and Chen.
“Amid global and local economic challenges, today’s event is a beacon of hope, symbolizing the collective aspirations and commitments of both the public and private sectors in navigating through adversities towards a future of prosperity,” the governor said.
