“WE will be seeing more of our [South] Korean tourists on the streets, but rest assured, we are also putting everything in place to safeguard our community,” Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said on Friday.
He said the investments made in the travel bubble agreement with South Korea are generating strong numbers with roughly 250 visitors arriving this past weekend.
“We’re going to be seeing a lot more [of] those numbers in the coming months. We are looking at another hybrid hotel to accommodate our tourists as well as our returning residents to make sure that our system, the system that we have in place, continues,” he added.
He said the system works.
“We have reopened our tourism [industry]…. And we continue to work hard to keep the CNMI safe. It’s not about convenience. It’s not about what the cost is. It was never about disregarding safety. We needed to do what we needed to do since day one, and we will continue to make that a priority,” he added.
The governor emphasized the importance of understanding that the CNMI is the only place with which South Korea has ever signed a travel bubble agreement.
“That is a big thing because Korea trusts in our system. They trust the people that’s running the protocols… [Their] people [are] encouraged to only come to the CNMI. This puts [Saipan] not just in a better position, but also [helps] showcase Rota and Tinian, which is what we have under the [Tourism Resumption Investment Plan] program,” he said.
Torres thanked the community, the CNMI Covid-19 Task Force led by Warren Villagomez, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation headed by Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna, the governor’s authorized representative for the Covid-19 disaster Patrick Guerrero, as well as all first responders and front liners for their collaborative efforts that have made the CNMI one of the safest places on earth.
Torres at the same time said the CNMI must also diversify its tourism markets.
“That’s the only way for us to have a stronger foundation for our economic stabilization,” he added.
The governor said the CNMI should also look into the potential of such new markets as Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand and Singapore.
But this may be a tall order, given the still raging Covid-19 pandemic affecting the global community, he added.
“This pandemic is a two-way thing. We can be safe here, but until our partners are able to open up their quarantine sites and increase their vaccination herd immunity, it’s very difficult to have that conversation,” the governor said regarding other tourism markets.
The Japan market, however, does look promising, he added. “I’m happy that our Japan market is looking into [a possible travel bubble agreement]. I know that we’ve had some communications… Seeing the growth of Japan’s vaccination [rate], it gives hope for us, especially our side of the region where that’s our market… I hope that we can strengthen that partnership [and] bring back Skymark [Airlines]. We’ve worked so hard to bring a Japanese airline here,” he said.
Torres said because of the pandemic, the partnership with Skymark Airlines was put on hold, but he does hope to see the return of a Japan-Saipan flight service.
