BY DANIEL M. PEREZ
Journal Staff
TUMON, Guam — The Guam Visitors Bureau achieved a historic financial milestone, securing an unmodified, clean opinion for its fiscal year 2025 financial audit with zero audit findings and no material weaknesses for the first time in more than six years.
The clean audit, completed in close collaboration with the Office of Public Accountability and Ernst & Young LLP, highlights a period of significant structural oversight and economic expansion for the island's tourism sector.
"This achievement reflects our commitment to transparency and underscores our dedication to being responsible stewards of public funds," said Régine Biscoe Lee, president and CEO of GVB. Lee praised her team and noted that the clean rating shows the organization takes pride in being good stewards of public resources, explaining that the fiscal management underscores the bureau's unwavering commitment to transparency and accountability to the people of Guam and beyond.
The financial milestone arrives as the bureau prepares for fiscal year 2027 budget deliberations with the Guam Legislature, where GVB officials are targeting an optimistic arrivals goal of 1.1 million visitors.
Parallel to its financial compliance, the island's visitor economy demonstrated robust growth throughout calendar year 2025.
According to data from the latest Guam Tourism Satellite Account report generated by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company, direct visitor spending rose to $1.2 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the previous period.The total economic impact of tourism surged to $1.6 billion, supporting 15,100 jobs across the island and generating $163 million in local government revenues. GVB officials confirmed the bureau received approximately $27 million to $28 million from the Tourist Attraction Fund to sustain operations.
GVB has also intensified its destination management and island maintenance initiatives under the direction of GVB officials. The bureau's maintenance teams have executed extensive water blasting, brush cutting, and rehabilitation projects at high-traffic points of interest, including the Archbishop Felixberto Flores Memorial Circle. To manage public waste, GVB deployed a collection of trash receptacles featuring public compliance stickers that instruct visitors to take their waste home if the bin is full.
International marketing and cultural initiatives remain central to GVB's strategy to diversify its source markets beyond its primary hubs. In South Korea, GVB partnered with 12 local travel entities at the Seoul International Travel Fair. The delegation secured the prestigious "Best in Best Marketing Award" at the event, which drew more than 40,000 attendees and allowed the bureau to gather more than 500 visitor surveys to optimize future campaigns.
Furthermore, GVB launched the "Guam with Me" consumer promotion at the Glorietta shopping mall in Makati, Philippines, utilizing live cultural performances from the Inetnon Gef Pa'go cultural dance group to stimulate regional travel bookings.
On the domestic front, the bureau has focused on community engagement and product enhancement through the relocation of the weekly Tumon Night Market. The market regularly attracts between 2,500 and 3,500 residents, tourists, and military service members every Sunday evening. Recent enhancements to the market venue include digital mapping displays projected onto the Tumon Sands Plaza building facade, executed by Jamz Media.
To further engage local business operators, GVB introduced its Island Intel Series. The initiative features 20-minute online micro-sessions designed to assist member companies in optimizing their profiles on GVB's global websites, which are maintained in English, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. Additionally, GVB completed a prominent cultural mural at Two Lovers Point in collaboration with local artist Lee San Nicolas and TV Tokyo, which has garnered nationwide awareness in Japan through the televised broadcasts of the Japanese docudrama, "Why I’m With You", a 2025 production by TV Tokyo filmed entirely on Guam in partnership with GVB, reaching more than one million viewers per episode. mbj
Journal Staff
TUMON, Guam — The Guam Visitors Bureau achieved a historic financial milestone, securing an unmodified, clean opinion for its fiscal year 2025 financial audit with zero audit findings and no material weaknesses for the first time in more than six years.
The clean audit, completed in close collaboration with the Office of Public Accountability and Ernst & Young LLP, highlights a period of significant structural oversight and economic expansion for the island's tourism sector.
"This achievement reflects our commitment to transparency and underscores our dedication to being responsible stewards of public funds," said Régine Biscoe Lee, president and CEO of GVB. Lee praised her team and noted that the clean rating shows the organization takes pride in being good stewards of public resources, explaining that the fiscal management underscores the bureau's unwavering commitment to transparency and accountability to the people of Guam and beyond.
The financial milestone arrives as the bureau prepares for fiscal year 2027 budget deliberations with the Guam Legislature, where GVB officials are targeting an optimistic arrivals goal of 1.1 million visitors.
Parallel to its financial compliance, the island's visitor economy demonstrated robust growth throughout calendar year 2025.
According to data from the latest Guam Tourism Satellite Account report generated by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company, direct visitor spending rose to $1.2 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the previous period.The total economic impact of tourism surged to $1.6 billion, supporting 15,100 jobs across the island and generating $163 million in local government revenues. GVB officials confirmed the bureau received approximately $27 million to $28 million from the Tourist Attraction Fund to sustain operations.
GVB has also intensified its destination management and island maintenance initiatives under the direction of GVB officials. The bureau's maintenance teams have executed extensive water blasting, brush cutting, and rehabilitation projects at high-traffic points of interest, including the Archbishop Felixberto Flores Memorial Circle. To manage public waste, GVB deployed a collection of trash receptacles featuring public compliance stickers that instruct visitors to take their waste home if the bin is full.
International marketing and cultural initiatives remain central to GVB's strategy to diversify its source markets beyond its primary hubs. In South Korea, GVB partnered with 12 local travel entities at the Seoul International Travel Fair. The delegation secured the prestigious "Best in Best Marketing Award" at the event, which drew more than 40,000 attendees and allowed the bureau to gather more than 500 visitor surveys to optimize future campaigns.
Furthermore, GVB launched the "Guam with Me" consumer promotion at the Glorietta shopping mall in Makati, Philippines, utilizing live cultural performances from the Inetnon Gef Pa'go cultural dance group to stimulate regional travel bookings.
On the domestic front, the bureau has focused on community engagement and product enhancement through the relocation of the weekly Tumon Night Market. The market regularly attracts between 2,500 and 3,500 residents, tourists, and military service members every Sunday evening. Recent enhancements to the market venue include digital mapping displays projected onto the Tumon Sands Plaza building facade, executed by Jamz Media.
To further engage local business operators, GVB introduced its Island Intel Series. The initiative features 20-minute online micro-sessions designed to assist member companies in optimizing their profiles on GVB's global websites, which are maintained in English, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. Additionally, GVB completed a prominent cultural mural at Two Lovers Point in collaboration with local artist Lee San Nicolas and TV Tokyo, which has garnered nationwide awareness in Japan through the televised broadcasts of the Japanese docudrama, "Why I’m With You", a 2025 production by TV Tokyo filmed entirely on Guam in partnership with GVB, reaching more than one million viewers per episode. mbj
