Members will convene on Saipan this week. KUAM sat down with Guam Visitors Bureau President and former Guam Governor Carl Gutierrez who arrived on Saipan Wednesday. 

He’s meeting with CNMI Governor Arnold Palacios, Lt. Gov. David Apatang, and Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Chris Concepcion.

This Friday, he will speak to Guam and CNMI leaders about the visa waiver program.

Gutierrez said, “They asked me if we could come here and speak about the Philippines and Guam-CNMI visa waiver. But not only that, but also into some tourism aspects of that visa waiver coming into effect. If it comes into effect.”

The meeting comes as leaders on Guam and the CNMI have welcomed the idea that requires Department of Homeland Security approval. A resolution supporting the effort is moving through the Congress of the Philippines. 

“That is our strategy. The US continues to take up more space and land and areas in the Philippines. They are up to nine bases already they're building and if there's one thing that they can ask, you know, it's not going to hurt -- a Guam-CNMI only visa. And where are they going to go from here? They can't get on a plane to go to the United States mainland and so it's pretty much a done deal that they're going to either overstay on Saipan or Rota or Guam, but we would find them and we don't believe that there would be any overstays,” said Gutierrez. 

He said Guam’s tourism industry is recovering.

He added, “Hopefully by the end of September, by September 30 this fiscal year, that we would hit 60% of pre-COVID numbers; those pre-COVID numbers were 1.6 plus million.”

Gutierrez explained that Guam should be able to share the same markets that islands in Micronesia seek. 

The regional talks will also include potential plans to push U.S. Congress to exempt the islands from federal cabotage laws, allowing foreign airlines to provide low-cost inter-island travel, for residents, too.

Gutierrez added, " I think the big issue is to stand as one voice to get that cabotage going so that people, foreign carriers can come through here and go to Guam, go to Palau, go to  FSM, or to Marshalls. So that's one thing. But in the meantime, how do we share resources between, let's say, Rota and Guam. Rota being less than 40 miles away, as one airline has about, I think, six aircraft, eight-passenger aircraft. So we're trying to figure out how to make Rota a Guam optional tour. And so we're working on that very closely with the mayor."