Tomoko A. Hosaka
Palau tourists undeterred by Gitmo detainee news
KOROR, Palau — Palau can probably stop worrying that the expected arrival of 13 Guantanamo detainees might scare off tourists.
The diving is just too spectacular.
Visitors to the remote Pacific nation famous for its tropical waters, dramatic coral and rich marine life said Thursday that they’ve discovered the best diving of their lives here and that nothing — even a group once branded as possible terrorists — could keep them away.
“It doesn’t affect my decision at all,” said Bruce Paggeot, 43, an American currently living in Singapore. “I’m sure the last thing (the Guantanamo detainees) want to do is cause problems.”
Paggeot, a diver for about seven years, was visiting Palau for the third time since January 2008. On Thursday, he explored “Blue Corner,” an area touted as Palau’s most stunning dive site.
“It’s the most incredible place,” he said. “It just has everything.”
Palau made global headlines last week when it agreed to President Barack Obama’s request to take a group of Uighurs — Turkic Muslims from China’s far western Xinjiang region — as part of plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
The Uighurs (pronounced WEE’-gurs) were captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001. The Pentagon determined last year that they were not “enemy combatants,” but the men have been stuck in legal limbo since then.
The United States asked Palau for help after other countries turned it down. Four other Uighurs left Guantanamo Bay last week for a new home in Bermuda.
Although Palauan President Johnson Toribiong has described the decision as a humanitarian gesture, some local residents have expressed concerns about their own safety. Critics, including former President Tommy Remengesau, also worry that the Uighurs could hurt tourism — the country’s biggest industry.
Spending by international visitors accounts for about 60 percent of Palau’s roughly $160 million economy. Some 76,000 tourists traveled to Palau in 2008, according to government statistics.
Yumie Morishita, marketing and research manager for the semi-governmental Palau Visitors’ Authority, said her office has received about 20 e-mail messages from former and potential visitors opposed to the country’s decision. Some wrote to say they had canceled their trips to Palau.
But emotions have calmed since news of the Uighurs first broke, she said, and the office now smiles at the bright side of the recent publicity.
With an annual marketing budget of just $500,000, the Visitors’ Authority has not been able to afford print advertising the last few years. Thanks to all the free press, Palau is now on the world’s radar, Morishita said.
“This is a good thing for us,” she said.
Sam Scott, president of Sam’s Tours, a leading dive operator, praised the president’s decision, predicting that Palauans would warmly welcome the Uighurs.
“I think it’s going to be OK,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to have a serious detrimental threat to the tourism arrivals of Palau.”
Tim Tippett, a tourist from Dallas, agreed.
“They’re not terrorists,” he said of the Uighurs.
Tippett, 44, seemed more concerned about how to extend his stay in Palau. A diver for 30 years, he said his visit has exceeded his highest expectations — and he now dreams of moving to Palau.
“It’s been beyond my wildest dreams,” he said.
Palau is one of the world’s smallest countries, with some 20,000 people scattered over 190 square miles (490 square kilometers) of lush tropical landscapes.
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