Sam Scott, President of Sam’s Tours said the possible resettlement will not harm the tourist arrival in Palau.
“My opinion is it doesn’t bother me at all. It would not affect at all our business, even if they do arrive here. I don’t think tourist will be bother by that. I don’t think it will affect our tourism arrival or so whatever,” Scott said in an interview on Tuesday during the Locally-Managed Marine Area Network (LMMA) Regional meeting at the Palau Conservation Society conference room on Tuesday.Scott said Palau’s culture and marine environment is very attractive and these are the primary reasons why tourists come to Palau.“They came here to dive and to see the marine so I don’t think Uighur detainees presence in Palau if ever, will be a problem,” he said. Scott has been in Palau for 27 years and Sam’s Tours has been in business for so long.The company also provides training for PCS staff. It has been helping PCS for 15 years now.“We’ve been in partners for many years now. We certified their staff for Open Waters courses and PCS is a great asset for Palau. They are involved in many ways in preserving the environment and setting aside some areas for conservation which is very important. Palau has a lot of visitors every year and with 20,000 people it needs to have things set aside for conservation for future generation,” he said.However doing conservation while pushing for development needs some balancing consideration Scott said.He said development is one of the conservation issues that Palau is facing right now. “I think the biggest challenge that Palau is facing at the moment is how to balance things. How to have development in a way that is sustainable not only to Palau but also to the environment like providing jobs for people but the environment has to be safe at the same time,” Scott said.
