Where is MVA, Commerce and CDA on casino issue?

Tourism in the CNMI is not just the number of visitors coming to visit the islands. When a person decides to visit a place, what influences that person will depend on specific factors that “pulls” or “pushes” to wanting going to a destination. In a nutshell, a local indigenous person would be pulled to visit the CNMI because of family obligation. So we can expect these types of visitors to frequently make the trip to the CNMI for as long as there is a family obligation or some personal attraction requiring the visit. On the other hand, a person may be pushed to visit the CNMI because of attractions and niceties the islands have to offer. One of this is gaming and entertainment opportunities. And, we could go on and on pointing out all these “pulls” and “pushes” that influence a traveler or visitor to trek to a destination. I am pretty sure that your readers would fully understand the basis for our tourism industry using this simple analogy.

Mr. Vince G. Cabrera, in a recent letter to the editor, you noted that at one point in time the CNMI was visited by tourists numbering up to 700,000 per year. Mr. Cabrera also noted that today the number is much less than the heyday of tourism in the CNMI, and we can expect that we will continue to attract less and less tourists. The gaming industry in the CNMI is one that we are not sure would be the panacea to the economic downfall of the CNMI. We will continue to guess what the gaming industry is all about. Aside from the legislators who are promoting the proliferation of the gaming industry in the CNMI, where and what is the Mariana Visitors Authority’s stake in this matters? Is this something that the MVA should also be involved with and taking the lead as this is an option for economic development of the islands? Or, if there is no certainty about the gaming industry, can MVA make any clarification one way or the other?

If the gaming industry is inclusive in a tourism industry, then it should be an option for economic development in the CNMI. So what is the Department of Commerce saying about the birth and proliferation of the gaming industry in the CNMI? The Commonwealth Development Authority is a driver of economic development because it is a source of capital for new and developing industries in the CNMI. Have you heard anything from these offices so that we can make contrast and analysis as we bear down on the debate for more or reduced gaming industry presence in the CNMI?

It seems that if we could find the best mix to making the gaming industry a viable growth industry in the CNMI, then we could sustain it as that would be viewed as good for the economy and an industry working side by side for building a viable tourism industry of the CNMI. Without the input of the officials in government that have direct jurisdiction over economic development and building of industries in the CNMI, we ought to start asking these officials to establish and participate in the discussion so that the common people in the CNMI can draw inferences and information to approve or disapprove the gaming industry legislation that is currently underway. Silence by these officials is not an option. We do expect to draw ideas from a careful and well-studied position by these officials. We are not asking for the impossible, what we need to gather from these officials are guidance and competent advisory that is free of show-and-tell theatrics.