Borja: Lift ban on entry of tourists from China

The existing ban on the entry of Chinese tourists to the Commonwealth should be lifted to further boost the revenue-generating capability of the islands’ travel industry.

Tinian Mayor Francisco Borja urged the Legislature and Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio to establish a procedure acceptable to the Department of Labor and Immigration, in processing entry of Chinese visitors to enhance economic potentials of the CNMI.

Mr. Borja also recommended the creation of a task force composed of representatives from the Marianas Visitors Authority, DOLI, Customs Divisions, the Attorney General’s Office, the Legislature and the Office of the Mayor to address the concerns previously raised in relation to the entry of Chinese visitors.

He said China’s economic growth has enriched more of its citizens, noting that the number of traveling Chinese has notably increased each year which the Northern Marianas should tap for its travel industry.

“China could become a major source of our tourism market and we need to remove all of the obstacles that will hamper our ability to tap that market,” said Mr. Borja.

The Tinian mayor called for CNMI’s swift action in sending official request to the US State Department to assist in persuading China to designate the Northern Marianas as a destination for Chinese tourists.

He also said the issue should be given a high level attention in order to determine whether there is a need to merely establish procedures that would allow their entry into the CNMI or completely lift the ban.

In fact, MVA has made similar recommendations in the past. The proposals apparently fell on deaf ears.

“Our Covenant Agreement grants sovereignty to the United States on international affairs, thus, the appropriate federal agency to negotiate with China to have the Commonwealth approved by the Chinese government as a tourist destination is the US State Department,” Mr. Tenorio.

Earlier, the government imposed the restriction on the entry of both Russian and Chinese nationals into the Northern Marianas after labor and immigration experts reviewed practices of tourists on island.

Tourism officials said the regulation implemented by the labor and immigration department on the entry of these nationals hamper efforts by the government to expand local tourism to other markets.

Under the DOLI policy, Russian and Chinese tourists will have to secure an authorization to enter the Northern Marianas before they are allowed to board major carriers servicing the islands.