‘Fate of Saipan casino hinges on Guam vote’

Saipan may be pressured to pass its own casino gaming law if voters approve an initiative that would legalize controlled casino gambling on Guam this November, according to a Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino executive.

Tinian Dynasty general manager Tom Liu said that at this time, he does not see a casino industry on Guam having a major impact on the operations of the CNMI’s only casino gaming facility.

The Tinian Dynasty primarily targets the Chinese tourism market, who Liu noted could not visit and gamble on Guam without a U.S. visa. Tinian’s advantage over Guam lies on the CNMI’s more relaxed immigration policy, as well as its direct charter flights from China, he said.

Liu, however, expects to get a clearer picture of the impact of a Guam casino industry once Saipan decides to legalize casino gambling.

“Realistically, if Guam passes a casino gaming law, Saipan has no choice but to pass its own. A casino industry on Guam will cause definite disadvantage to Saipan, because both islands are competing for the Japanese and Korean markets,” Liu noted.

Japanese and Korean citizens or nationals are eligible for Guam’s visa waivers.

“If Saipan starts to open casinos, Tinian can close down. Tinian can’t compete with Saipan in terms of infrastructure and availability of hotel rooms, among other things,” Liu said.

Former Gov. Froilan Tenorio, a big proponent of casino gaming on Saipan, said the CNMI Legislature should move toward establishing a casino industry on Saipan before Guam does it.

“Even if casino gaming is approved on Guam, we can still get investors to put up casinos on Saipan. But it will be more difficult. Guam is bigger and it has more facilities and infrastructure,” Tenorio said in a separate interview.

But not all is lost yet, Tenorio added.

He echoed Liu’s statement that CNMI’s autonomy from the United States in terms of immigration policy is one advantage that the Commonwealth has over Guam. “We can bring everybody from China, the Philippines… without a U.S. visa. Many can’t go to Guam,” he said.

He added, “Some of the Japanese investors I’ve talked to said they didn’t mind investing on Saipan, even if there’s a casino industry on Guam. But there’s no way they would invest on Tinian. In other words, they can’t see [themselves] competing with Guam out of Tinian, but they don’t mind competing out of Saipan. Let’s just hope that the Legislature will find the guts to do something about this.”

Earlier this year, Tenorio submitted to the CNMI Legislature a draft bill that would establish a casino industry on Saipan. The lawmakers have yet to act on the proposal.

Proposition A, which would legalize controlled casino gambling on Guam, will be on the November general election ballot. The initiative made by a group called Citizens for Economic Diversity would create a Guam Casino Gaming Control Commission, and limit casino operations to hotels with 100 or more rooms.

This early, polls show the initiative gaining a significant support from voters.