Broken bathrooms, broken railings, and graffiti have turned many of the CNMI\u2019s tourist hot spots into eyesores but the lack of tourists right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic is the perfect time for the CNMI to fix things up and the Marianas Visitors Authority board wants to take advantage of this moment.<\/p>\n
Although nothing is official yet, MVA board members agreed at their meeting last week that the maintenance and repairs would include repairing broken restrooms, rails, fencing for cows, and more and have set aside $100,000 for this purpose.<\/p>\n
Jerry Tan, MVA board member and TanHoldings president, said the best time to fix tourist sites is now since there are no tourists at the moment. Additionally, he thinks that although MVA isn\u2019t in a position to do anything new for the tourist sites, it\u2019s best to go out and do as much as they can to beautify what\u2019s already there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we definitely should go out and do as much as we can, so that when the tourists [finally] come back,\u201d said Tan, \u201cif they\u2019re a first-timer or a repeater, that will be a pleasant surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n
MVA board chair Marian Aldan-Pierce lauded the Department of Lands and Natural Resources for doing a \u201cvery good job\u201d of maintaining yardwork at tourist sites but she cites untethered cows as a problem.<\/p>\n
MVA managing director Priscilla Iakopo suggested visiting each site, doing an assessment, and then providing feedback if there\u2019re fixtures that needs to be done.<\/p>\n
Warren Villagomez, who is an MVA board member and chairman of the Governor\u2019s COVID-19 Task Force, endorsed Tan\u2019s suggestion to revive tourist spots. \u201cWe should start small, and do things now. We should take advantage of the situation we\u2019re in,\u201d said Villagomez. \u201cThere\u2019s quite a few of our agencies that are not full 100% back to where they\u2019re supposed to be, so we can ask the administration to support us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tan added that the CNMI should expect travel demand not to be anywhere close to normal, so there\u2019s time to fix tourist spots. \u201cWe have time. It\u2019s not just between now and the first [international] flight,\u201d said Tan. \u201cWe\u2019re going to get the minimum number of arrivals to begin with, and then gradually increase.\u201d He added that even if there are very few tourists after the reopening of the CNMI, it\u2019s still a good time to fix what needs to be fixed.<\/p>\n
Additionally, MVA board member Chris Nelson said that beach showers would be a win-win not only for tourists but island residents as well. Nelson added that not a lot of money would be spent for the showers, that creating the showers is the easy part but funding the water and having the maintenance done is something they would have figure out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have freshwater where people can clean up their kids and tourist can go on and clean up before they get in their car. It\u2019ll be a big win for us,\u201d said Nelson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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