THE CNMI government must meet with the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, California as well as with federal officials in Washington, D.C. to discuss the reopening of the Chinese tourist market, which shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, Marianas Visitors Authority officials told senators in a meeting on Jan. 18, 2023.
Senate Floor Leader Corina L. Magofna, chairs of the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs, and Sen. Paul A. Manglona, chair of the Senate Federal Relations Committee, called for a meeting with MVA to know the status of tourism, the CNMI’s main economic driver.
During the meeting, MVA board member Thomas T.H. Liu briefed the senators about the current situation of the Chinese tourism market.
Liu said prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the China market represented about 46% of the total visitor arrivals to the CNMI.
In November 2022, he said the Chinese government decided to lift Covid-19 restrictions, “then all of a sudden [more people] got infected.”
He said the China travel agencies that shut down due to the pandemic have yet to reopen.
For the China market to reopen, Liu said MVA needs funding to promote the CNMI.
“We also need the new administration to visit the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles and discuss with the consul general the reopening of the China market to the CNMI,” Liu added.
He said MVA is also hoping that the parole program for Chinese travelers will continue and eventually be transformed into a visa-waiver program.
This will require discussions with the federal government, he added.
For her part, acting MVA Chair Gloria Cavanagh told the senators that the parole program “is always an issue.”
She said it is something that the federal government can either allow or take away at any moment.
Hence, discussions with Chinese Consulate General and federal officials in Washington, D.C. have to be “continuous.”
She said the fate of the China tourism market will depend on the information provided by the CNMI to the federal government.
“When they don’t know anything about it, then most likely they’d say, ‘no one else in the U.S. has this program, why should the CNMI have it?’ Well, it is our job to continue to tell them, the federal officials in Washington, D.C., why we need this parole or visa-waiver program,” Cavanagh said.
Marianas Visitors Authority board member Thomas Liu listens during a meeting with senators in the Senate chamber on Wednesday last week.
