MVA wants the VEP requirement junked

The Marianas Visitors Authority wants the visitor entry requirements abolished, saying that these restrictions discourage tourists, especially the Chinese, from coming to the islands.

In a meeting yesterday, the MVA board of directors agreed to submit a resolution asking the Attorney General’s Office to do away with immigration regulations requiring certain nationalities to obtain a visitor entry permit before they can come to the Commonwealth.

The board members said they would also request the AGO to scrap the bonding requirement for travel agencies facilitating the entry of tourists who need VEPs to visit the CNMI.

Furthermore, MVA would seek the administration’s assistance in getting China Eastern and China Southern to operate regularly scheduled flights, rather than the charter flights they are currently providing between China and Saipan.

Discussion about the proposed board resolution arose due to the minimal increase in tourist arrivals from China, one of the countries whose citizens or nationals are not exempted from the VEP requirement.

MVA board vice chair Marian Aldan-Pierce noted that, with the Chinese government having granted Approved Destination Status to the Commonwealth, the Northern Marianas should be receiving a considerable number of Chinese tourists by now.

Rather, the year-to-date arrivals from China currently total only 23,316, only a 25-percent increase from the tourist arrivals from China between October 2003 and June 2004.

Based on a month-on-month comparison of the figures, China arrivals registered a decline thrice this year: in January, in March, and in May.

Last month, however, arrivals from China posted a 39-percent increase—from 1,746 in June 2004 to 2,419 in June 2005.

“The CNMI might as well terminate the VEP requirements, if that is what’s making it difficult for tourists to come here,” said MVA chair David M. Sablan.

He noted that eased regulations on other tourism markets would assist the Northern Marianas in recovering from the loss that would result from Japan Airlines’ impending pullout.

MVA board member JM Guerrero added that the CNMI should be accommodating to tourists, instead of placing too many restrictions. This, he said, is one privilege that the CNMI has from having an autonomous immigration system.

Aldan-Pierce suggested that an MVA representative meet with another country that has approved destination status from China to discuss how that country is going about accepting Chinese tourists.

Countries exempted from the VEP requirement are Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Ireland, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

Nationals of those countries that are eligible for participation in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program also do not need a VEP to enter the Commonwealth. These are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.