HANMI, agencies to lobby vs ‘shobais’

Government agencies and the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands have agreed to work together and lobby the Legislature to address once and for all mounting concerns by hoteliers on the intimidation of tourists by beach concessionaires and illegal vendors or “shobais.”

In a meeting held Friday at Pacific Gardenia Hotel, HANMI and officials of the Marianas Public Lands Authority, Coastal Resources Management Office and the Department of Public Safety noted that a bill is currently pending at the Legislature that would empower the CRMO to strictly regulate and oversee operations of beach concessionaires.

House Bill 14-52, a recycled version of earlier bills from previous legislatures, was introduced by Rep. Arnold I. Palacios, and is before the House Committee on Natural Resources chaired by Rep. Janet U. Maratita.

HANMI, MPLA Commissioner Henry Hofschneider, Public Safety deputy commissioner Franklin Babauta, CRMO enforcement chief Martin Cabrera and CRMO permit manager Martin Castro, who were present during the luncheon meeting agree that the bill needs more teeth.

Michael von Siebenthal, Hyatt Regency Saipan general manager and HANMI secretary, said the intimidation of tourists by beach concessionaires and shobais is a “serious concern that had been discussed in the past” but not resolved.

Among the concerns were those raised in the meeting by Mark Swinton, Dai-Ichi Hotel general manager and HANMI treasurer, about men loitering at the hotel premises drunk and without shirts on.

Swinton said hotel security guards tried to talk the men into leaving the premises, which only ended in a fist fight.

The men were allegedly employed by beach concessionaires, of which Dai Ichi Hotel has six.

B.K. Park, Saipan World Resort general manager and HANMI vice president, said they have been receiving letters from tourists who had stayed at the hotel expressing displeasure at the way they were treated by the beach concessionaires.

“They were scared,” said Park.

Other hotel general managers noted similar incidents happening in their premises.

The hoteliers said these actions by beach concessionaires are hurting efforts to attract tourists in the CNMI.

“They [tourists] go home and tell their families and friends about their sad experiences here. And that’s not good for us,” said HANMI chair Ronald Sablan.

“We want to make it very clear that we respect the services provided by the concessionaires. The only thing that we ask is that they respect the hotels’ concerns to be courteous to tourists.

“We also understand that there are shobais that may be representing other establishments not necessarily representing the concessionaires,” said Sablan.

Several proposals were raised during the meeting, including one by Hofschneider who said they are considering pulling out all beach concessionaires from hotel premises and placing them all in a designated public land.

But Siebenthal said this would only make things harder for the tourists. “We don’t want to get rid of the concessionaires. We only want them to behave,” he said.

Sablan proposed that HANMI be allowed by CRMO and MPLA to be involved in the review process when a beach concessionaire’s permit is up for renewal, a matter that Hofschneider said they would consider.

“Hotels should have a say in the review process when renewing beach concessions,” Sablan said.

Still another proposal was to convene a meeting between the beach concessionaires and HANMI, something that, Sablan said, had been done in the past to no avail.

HANMI and the government officials would be meeting again to draw up lobby plans.

“We will set a meeting again. We have to address this issue once and for all,” said Sablan.