VOX POPULI: Should the CNMI reopen its borders to tourists now?

“The CNMI is close to reaching its goal of having 70% of its (age 12+) population fully vaccinated, so I believe that we can finally jumpstart our tourism industry and welcome fully-vaccinated tourists. Doing so would create new jobs for those dislocated by the pandemic, support small businesses, and give the CNMI government additional revenue to finance its operations. We’ve done a good job curbing the pandemic and serving as a role model for the world for over a year now — we can do so again if COVID-19 shakes up.”
—Nathaniel Snodgrass

“I’m all for tourism to open up, but what markets are being targeted? I read group tours and sports tourism. This is great, but we are going after niche markets again. I think adventure travelers may be an optimistic approach to add on as a niche market, [but] then again, are there enough adventure options available?
Tourism is favorable for our islands, but to be competitive in the global world of tourism, I firmly believe we need to have our very own flag carrier, thus opening up routes and options tied in with various air carrier routes offering the CNMI a chance to be reckoned with.”
—Wayne Pangelinan

“Since we are close to reaching our goal of having the entire CNMI fully vaccinated, we should consider opening our borders to tourists, but limit it to those who are fully vaccinated. Many local businesses have shut down due to not making enough money where most of their profit come from tourists. I think that with how we’ve been preventing the spread of COVID, we should open our borders to fully vaccinated tourists.”
—Christopher Cabrera

“Opening up the borders to tourists is beneficial to our economy. With the number of people who are vaccinated increasing, the risk that COVID-19 poses is decreasing. However, we should still maintain all current protocols to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission.”
—Kelvin Wolf

“Yes, I feel like it’s time we should start opening the borders so we can slowly get back to business.”
—Austin Barcinas

“As long as everyone’s complying with [COVID-19 safety] guidelines so we don’t get community cases I have no problem.”
—Maverick Irang

“I think the South Korea bubble is a good move, and [the CNMI leadership] has done a good job handling the pandemic. I guess the CNMI should slowly open to one country at a time, with another bubble, maybe to Japan, this time?”
—Richard Baleares