Post by Logan on Jan 28, 2016 1:57:42 GMT -6
Department of Commerce officials are on a fact-finding mission to develop and enforce regulations to curb the growing issue of illegal tour operators in the Commonwealth with sometimes questionable vehicle and liability insurance policies that business leaders believe do not adequately protect tourists and could harm the image of the CNMI’s vital and only industry.
Commerce Secretary Mark Rabauliman told Saipan Tribune a working group has been formed to promulgate these rules, in light of a recent law to have tour vehicles register with the government. He said they aim to publish the rules sometime by mid-to-the-end of February this year, with an intent to carry out a “full media blitz”—like with their work on a previous alcohol and tobacco campaigns—to disseminate information to the public of “what’s written in the law.”
“It’s nothing personal,” Rabauliman said. “It’s just the law.”
Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Alex Sablan calls these operators “rogue.” He believes the issue comes down to protecting the CNMI’s tourists from illegal or smaller operations that don’t have the capability of carrying heavier or larger insurance policies.“…Certain companies have very little liability insurance and cap out very quickly and families are left holding the bag,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune.
Read more: www.saipantribune.com/index.php/govt-aware-of-illegal-tour-operators/
Commerce Secretary Mark Rabauliman told Saipan Tribune a working group has been formed to promulgate these rules, in light of a recent law to have tour vehicles register with the government. He said they aim to publish the rules sometime by mid-to-the-end of February this year, with an intent to carry out a “full media blitz”—like with their work on a previous alcohol and tobacco campaigns—to disseminate information to the public of “what’s written in the law.”
“It’s nothing personal,” Rabauliman said. “It’s just the law.”
Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Alex Sablan calls these operators “rogue.” He believes the issue comes down to protecting the CNMI’s tourists from illegal or smaller operations that don’t have the capability of carrying heavier or larger insurance policies.“…Certain companies have very little liability insurance and cap out very quickly and families are left holding the bag,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune.
Read more: www.saipantribune.com/index.php/govt-aware-of-illegal-tour-operators/