Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero spoke to the Guam Visitors Bureau’s board of directors, urging the board to come together and begin developing and executing a plan to increase the returns from the tourism industry.
“I want to see more communication between the board and the management,” she said. “Get together and come up with a plan you all agree on.” She spoke to the board at its meeting held on Oct. 24.
Chairman of the board George Chiu presented the Guam Tourism Situation Report and Draft Short Term Recovery Plan, to the governor, GVB management, and the rest of the board.
The Journal was supplied with a copy of the plan.
The 43 page document is a framework for the bureau to follow in planning for the next steps in the recovery of the tourism industry, it told the Journal and was prepared by tourism stakeholders, current and former board members, and members of the community with extensive tourism experience.
It outlines critical challenges, strategic goals for 2025 to 2027, economic impact and investment, and the next steps GVB will need to take. Moreover, the document notes that a $50 million investment would be needed over two years; $32 million in year one and $18 million in year two. GVB told the Journal that it does not have an exact use of the funds as of yet.
In light of this, the board formed the recovery committee which will be led by Vice Chairman Joaquin Cook which will work with GVB management to address the recovery plan and will convene in two weeks to share its findings with the board.
Later in the meeting, the board approved two purchase orders, one to Triple J Motors and the other to Arkana Pacific Contractors Corp.
The first purchase order was for two 2WD trucks from Triple J Motors for $102,990. The second was for the complete repair of the Senator Angel Leon Guerrero Latte Stone Memorial Park for $48,000 to be completed by Arkana Pacific Contractors Corp.
In his management report, GVB Vice President Gerald S.A. Perez noted that the arrivals are behind what was originally estimated. Korea continues to make up a majority of visitors, taking up 50.9% of the incoming market. Perez attributes the industry’s underperformance to the weaker yen and won, heightened competition with Asian destinations, the U.S. dollar structure, and airlift bias favoring Asia.
Moreover, negotiations are still ongoing between the English Premier League football team, Tottenham Hotspur and the bureau plans and generating Japanese consumer interest through a TV movie drama filmed on the island.
Overall, his outlook for the tourism industry in fiscal 2025 is “cautious optimism”. Visitor arrivals are estimated for fiscal 2025 to be between 760,000 to 1 million. mbj