{"id":409125,"date":"2024-05-08T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=409125"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Propst-Most-disappointing-about-Hyatt-closure-is-no-one-reached-out-to-CNMI-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Propst-Most-disappointing-about-Hyatt-closure-is-no-one-reached-out-to-CNMI-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Propst: Most disappointing about Hyatt closure is no one reached out to CNMI leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Edwin K. Propst (D-Saipan) said the most disappointing part about the impending closure of Hyatt Regency Saipan is that no one reached out to Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang, and the Legislature.<\/p>\n

Propst shared his views about Hyatt Regency Saipan\u2019s announcement to permanently close on June 30, 2024 during the House of Representatives special session last Thursday.<\/p>\n

He said Palacios told them that he learned about the Hyatt\u2019s impending closure upon reading it in the paper.<\/p>\n

Propst said Apatang, House of Representatives Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan), and all House members found out the same upon reading it in the paper.<\/p>\n

The House floor leader said the Hotel Association of the NMI did not ever contact Palacios and Apatang to inform them that Hyatt is on the verge of closing now and what they should do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that had happened, the governor would have called for an emergency meeting. We will have talked about it and we will call HANMI and other agencies. Guys, this is what\u2019s happening. No notice!\u201d Propst said.<\/p>\n

The House floor leader said it is great sadness that Hyatt closed the doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is shocking and it\u2019s sudden. And it\u2019s saddening and surprising. I think those are common words that have been used,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Propst said there\u2019s a lot of history and memory for everyone in the House and all have had such special wonderful memories with the Hyatt Regency.<\/p>\n

He said their hearts go out to the employees who are losing their jobs and they are going to have to look for new jobs and new opportunities after spending and dedicating so much of their life to the Hyatt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad, I\u2019m deeply sad and hurt. But I think we have to look at the bigger picture here and we have to look at what\u2019s been at play,\u201d Propst said.<\/p>\n

He noted that 400,000 Japanese tourists are anticipated to travel to Guam this fiscal year, at a time when the yen is weak and they are not supposed to be travelling anymore.<\/p>\n

The floor leader said, however, the CNMI received so far in this fiscal year only 8,610 Japanese tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fraction, it\u2019s a tiny fraction of what Guam is receiving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Propst said the statistics matter as Guam is literally 100 miles away, a 25-minute flight from Saipan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are killing us! Japanese are flocking there. Why are they no longer coming to Saipan, the CNMI? That\u2019s the billion-dollar question. That\u2019s what we need to be asking ourselves,\u201d Propst said.<\/p>\n

He said that last Wednesday they had the Marianas Working Group, the president and directors of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, and several House colleagues sitting in the House chamber for three hours talking about Hyatt and many other things.<\/p>\n

Propst said what some of the hotel managers and owners have discussed with him and his colleagues, they repeatedly stated that there is nothing to do here for a tourist after the sun goes down after 6pm.<\/p>\n

He said in Guam, they have the Tumon Bay, where a lot of things are going on actively at night that welcome tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do we have going on at the Paseo [de Marianas] and around Garapan? What activities do we have in our villages that are offered to our tourists?\u201d Propst said.<\/p>\n

He said the CNMI has diving sites, spectacular beaches, and the warmth and love from the people.<\/p>\n

Propst said these are great things, but it\u2019s not enough to bring the tourists back to the CNMI.<\/p>\n

He said CNMI leaders are getting slammed because they\u2019re being told that they are not doing enough since the CNMI is supposed to pivot away from Chinese tourists.<\/p>\n

Propst noted that tourists from the People\u2019s Republic of China can come into the CNMI right now without a visa, but they can\u2019t do the same in Guam.<\/p>\n

He said it does give the CNMI a special unique advantage.<\/p>\n

Propst said Chinese tourists can come here with charter flights and that Hong Kong Airlines just recently resumed flights.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave any of us said we don\u2019t want Chinese here? None of us. Not one of our members, not the speaker. And I\u2019ve never heard it from the words of the governor and lieutenant governor. We welcome everyone. Every one, every tourist,\u201d Propst pointed out.<\/p>\n

He said as a reminder, CNMI leaders have been working hand in hand with Guam leaders on ensuring that they see a Guam-CNMI visa waiver for the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been fighting for that. I have personally met with the governor and lieutenant governor and so has several of our members. We\u2019re not sleeping,\u201d Propst said.<\/p>\n

The floor leader said are doing all they can right now to get this economy moving, but that it takes time.<\/p>\n

Propst said the development that\u2019s happening in Garapan is not going to happen overnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we all need to make sure it\u2019s the best product. We want tourists to come in. We want to have a better economy. It takes all of us to pitch in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Propst said all have to pitch in and that they can\u2019t just depend on China saving the CNMI.<\/p>\n

On military tourism, the floor leader said Guam has a ton of tourists that are military that flood the hotels and keep them at sustainable numbers.<\/p>\n

Propst said a lot of military personnel in Guam want to come to the CNMI, but expensive plane tickets aren\u2019t going to allow them to.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the more reason why we\u2019ve been fighting for cabotage exemption waivers and other things. These are the things that are going to move us forward. But it is going to take time and yes, we all need to work together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

House of Representatives Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) presides over a special session last Thursday where many House members expressed their views on the impending closure of Hyatt Regency Saipan.<\/p>\n

-Ferdie de la Torre
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Edwin K. Propst (D-Saipan) said the most disappointing part about the impending closure of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}