Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, left, talks to reporters as Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Christopher Concepcion listens during a break from MVA’s general membership meeting at Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan on Thursday.
GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios on Thursday reiterated his stance to pivot away from “overreliance” on Chinese tourists, but added: “I’m not saying we’re not going to welcome them, I never said that.”
“We are just going to pivot away given the reality of the geopolitical stances of the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China,” he added.
Prior to the pandemic, China was the CNMI’s second largest tourism market after South Korea.
Palacios noted that “Chinese tourists traveling to the U.S. still need a visa. We have a unique visa [for Chinese visitors], but that is very tenuous, and I keep saying that … it may be pulled [anytime] at the discretion of the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security.”
“We are a small U.S. territory,” Palacios said. “We should not be really talking about this market…until the relationship between the federal government and China gets back to normal, pre-Covid.”
MVA meeting
Palacios, Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero, other officials and tourism industry stakeholders attended the Marianas Visitors Authority’s general membership meeting at Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan on Thursday.
The guest speakers were Takashi Ichikura, MVA Japan office representative, and Sejin Kim, MVA Korea office representative. The two shared key market updates about Japan and Korea.
According to Ichikura, Japan has a slow outbound travel market recovery, while Kim reported that the Korean market is recovering fast.
“We really got to step up our game for the Japan market,” Palacios told reporters.
“I know that…the Japanese government during the Covid pandemic incentivized…travel within Japan,” he added. “Japanese consumers are still in that mood…it’s moving very slowly, and we need to figure out what really needs to be done. It’s not just MVA, it also has to include the Hotel Association of the NMI, to figure out what the consumers really want in terms of experiences in the destination. We need to do due diligence in taking a look at our promotions,” the governor said.
As for the Korean market, he said, “I got to give it to the MVA Korea team — they are very aggressive. They came out with very nice video ads, and placed them in crucial areas, marketing them strongly.”
“Who’s to say that we cannot expand the Korea market?” Palacios asked. “In 1997 we have 500,000-600,000 tourists and that was only from one market, Japan. Who’s to say that if we don’t work hard and get it going, improving the experiences of our destinations — who’s to say we cannot improve? We have to do it. There are things that we can’t control, but those things that we can control we should work hard on them.”
In 2019, prior to the pandemic, there were 17,121 arrivals from Japan; 249,211 from Korea; and 185,526 from China.
In 2022, the figures were 2,130, Japan; 76,456, Korea; and 186, China.
