We have been going at it since the late ‘90s, trying to feel out what it would be like to get Chinese to come. The interest has always been there, but it was very difficult to get things going. I have been there and I know what it is like.
If the Department of Defense has never had a problem with the Chinese visitors coming into the island, then this is something that should have been brought out more than a decade ago. Six years ago, when the military buildup was brought out, this should have been mentioned and it could have been mentioned. Now we have the Department of Homeland Security leaning towards that same inclination. These are and have always been the reasons why things were stalled or never brought to the table. It has always been the Feds and never anything else.
We have tour companies in the states eyeing Chinese tourists, who have the greatest potential for growth over the next few years. This is because of all the reports of their great wealth and high expenditures in other tourist destinations far exceeding anything we have ever seen. Even Australia is being pressured to make a larger promotional budget to get more Chinese to their shores.
Of course, initially the hoteliers who have been hurting because of the lack of growth over more than a decade and a half will be happy when the visa waiver is granted, but that may only be temporary. If a visa waiver were to be granted for Guam and the CNMI, the Chinese will see the opportunity and send their own tour agents, operators and hoteliers to the Northern Marianas and Guam to set up shop to receive the Chinese tourists coming to the area.
There are presently more than 130 million Chinese who have the money to travel, and they spend far more than three to four days when they do. I suspect the Japanese tour agents may have some difficulty with this.
FELIX AGUON
Quezon City and Guam
