DOLI gets pat in the back from MVA • Tourism office notes more courteous immigration personnel at airport
Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Perry Tenorio has commended the Department of Labor and Immigration in connection with improvements made by immigration personnel in meeting tourists at the Saipan International Airport.
Travel agents have recently been giving MVA positive comments in connection with the friendly and professional way the immigration personnel have been performing their jobs.
“We appreciate their hard work and the improvements they have made,” said Tenorio in a letter to DOLI Secretary Mark Zachares.
Earlier, travel agents have been complaining about the “unfriendly” treatment by immigration personnel of visitors at the airport which they said provides a bad impression on the Northern Marianas as a tourist destination.
Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has urged the MVA and DOLI to immediately resolve mounting complaints of maltreatment of tourists by immigration and customs personnel at the airport.
In expressing his concern to the problem, the chief executive noted that the airport is the first contact of tourists to the local people, thus, any bad experience of guests will have adverse impact on the half-a-billion tourism economy.
He said both immigration and customs personnel can still maintain courtesy to thousands of tourists who visit the islands.
MVA Board Chair Dave M. Sablan had lashed out at immigration and customs officers who have been involved in the manhandling of tourists, saying he would seek their punishment to the fullest extent.
Sablan’s warning came after he received numerous reports against immigration and customs officers who rough up tourists upon arrival at the airport.
The Association of Korean Businessmen has raised the issue to the attention of the governor four months ago after a number of tourists were not allowed to enter the CNMI and immediately sent back to their country.
Likewise, Asiana Air raised a similar concern when several of its passengers who had to go through hours of rigid questioning by immigration agents were sent back home.
