Small businesses still struggling to keep hope afloat

Although the three cruise ships that recently visited Saipan were a good thing as they brought several hundred tourists to the CNMI and Garapan businesses saw some good improvement, the overall picture shows that the impact is still small.

This was the gist of the comments of Saipan Chamber of Commerce board of directors president Joseph C. Guerrero in a conversation just after the Chamber’s general membership meeting yesterday in San Antonio.

“I think it has had some impact, but the relative impact I think is small,” Guerrero said.

He pointed out that, unless the CNMI receives cruise ships every day, the impact is very small and it’s only for specific types of businesses.

“The ships, we welcome them, but…for example, the [passengers] get off the ship at 9am or 10am, and then they have to go back, make their way to the ship at 5pm,” so they’re only on the island for a short period.

Also, he said, only the restaurants that are open for lunch are the only ones that benefit from them.

“For example, my business, we’re not open at lunch yet, so we don’t receive any of that benefit. And there’s other businesses in Garapan that don’t open for lunch, but only dinner. We welcome them, but the impact is very little,” he added. Guerrero operates the Naked Fish Bar and Grill restaurant.

Although appreciative of the hard work of the Marianas Visitors Authority, Guerrero said that in the overall picture small business are still struggling. When notified of a recent news piece from another media outlet featuring small business owners who shared their fears, and concerns, Guerrero, who is a business owner himself, agreed. “The small businesses, we’re all struggling.”

He concedes that many businesses lost money during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now with the pandemic already over, they still feel its remaining effects on the economy.

“For us, it still feels like we’re in a pandemic. …I mean, don’t get me wrong. We feel safe here. Many of us are no longer afraid of the virus. Most people are not worried about their health status in relation to COVID-19, but our businesses are sick, you know. They are not healthy. When you’re barely making payroll, that’s not a healthy business, right?” he added.

Right now, Guerrero said many small businesses are just doing enough to keep their businesses afloat. “And that’s not a healthy business environment when all you do is just making sure the bills are paid and not have anything extra to expand or grow your business or buy new furniture or make other improvements.

“We’re hopeful that tourism is going to pick up slowly. It was nice to hear the Hong Kong Airlines plans to fly here, but then again, Asiana pulled out, right? And so they’re just trying to fill, I think, a void. And so, yeah, we’re still, we’re hopeful, but very cautious in the business community. “