Gov. Ralph DLG Torres disclosed Thursday that he has a task force specifically assigned to work with airlines as part of the government\u2019s plan to reopen the tourism industry.<\/p>\n
This developed as Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios stated that the administration is aggressively planning for the tourism industry\u2019s comeback, but that they can\u2019t cite a specific date just yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose dates are very fluid at this time,\u201d said Palacios at a radio news briefing last Thursday where he and Torres were among the speakers.<\/p>\n
When asked about the government\u2019s reopening plan, Torres said the Commonwealth has different clienteles and in terms of what the islands have to offer \u201cbut we continue to market the CNMI obviously as one of the safest places.\u201d <\/p>\n
Torres said his air transportation task force is looking at what kind of incentive program can work both ways for the CNMI and airlines.<\/p>\n
He said the primary challenges is that Asian tourists typically face a 14-day quarantine when they go back to their respective countries.<\/p>\n
The CNMI\u2019s advantage, Torres said, is the high percentage of the community that\u2019s being vaccinated against COVID-19. \u201cSo our goal is to have a sound proposal with the understanding that we need the herd immunity [that can only be achieved when we are] vaccinated to a certain percentage,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n
Once that goal to get a certain percentage of the population vaccinated is reached, then the idea of welcoming tourists back becomes achievable, he said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Torres said, they are aware about identifying a date that is reasonable and sound. \u201cAnd there\u2019s calculation into putting a specific date or at least a targeted date for us to reopen our tourism,\u201d said Torres.<\/p>\n
Palacios said reopening is a moving target as they cannot really get very specific with the dates. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I can say is that the governor\u2019s economic advisers are looking at everything and trying to plan for when we can open,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, Palacios said, they know that a well-thought out plan in place has to conform with the needs of the tourists. \u201cFor example, a lot of our clienteles in the industry are from Asia. So coming here, we can ease up the quarantine but it\u2019s the 14-day quarantine when they get back home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This is unlike the case of American tourists, Palacios said, since they don\u2019t have to be quarantined when they go back home, which explains why there\u2019s a very big rebound in the tourism numbers of Hawaii.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is a lot different. \u2026If you\u2019re coming in from Korea, for example, as a tourist, we can ease up the quarantine and we\u2019ll work out a plan for that,\u201d he said. However, when the tourist gets back home, he\/she has to spend another two weeks in quarantine in Korea. \u201cSo that\u2019s putting a damper on what we really can do and when we can really open up,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Palacios said one of the recommendations is that they also need to sit down with the main tour agencies or tour companies out of Korea and Japan and find out exactly what kind of model will work, if there\u2019s any. <\/p>\n
At the end of the day, he said, they need to discuss what can be done with the governments of Korea and Japan because they are the ones that put up and implement quarantine protocols.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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