Check out The Way Forward column this week by new President & CEO, Régine Biscoe Lee in the Guam Daily Post.
Click here to read full column
Challenging Ourselves Forward
Håfa Adai, Todus Håmyu, I Taotao Guåhan!
As we celebrate Mes CHamoru and Women’s History Month, I am deeply honored to step into the role of President and CEO of the Guam Visitors Bureau. I understand the responsibility entrusted to me and am driven to work harder and do better because of it.
Spend any amount of time on Guam, and you’ll quickly learn one thing—tourism is a vital part of our economy. Good times mean new jobs, retail stores, restaurants, and attractions. Tough times mean fighting every day to keep people employed, the lights on, and the doors open.
Bearing this in mind during an enormously challenging period in the history of Destination Guam’s tour-and-travel sector, I spent the last two years meeting with and hearing from visitor industry stakeholders, interviewing folks from front-of-house staff to tour guide operators, hotel management to cultural practitioners, and many others to better inform a tourism recovery plan. That work, in large part, is why I felt compelled to help lead GVB through this critical moment.
While anyone can point to the things our tourism industry could do better, rarely have I seen us praise what so many in this community already know but might not say.
The truth is that GVB isn’t tourism—you are.
Whether in our public or private sectors here on the island or in our source markets across the waters, we have the consistent work of managers and frontline workers to thank for keeping tourism alive and kicking.
But it goes far beyond that.
At this critical moment, while we’ve all endured a punishing series of health, economic, and weather-related setbacks, I’m maintaining a net-positive outlook as I walk through the front door of GVB as its board-elected president and CEO.
My confidence stems from the passion and dedication of every person who serves our visitor industry, coupled with one of Destination Guam’s best selling points—the Håfa Adai spirit and warmth of our people.
As the dedicated workers of our industry have held the line against economic decline, creative solutions have emerged in the face of a tough comeback. Showing up to work every day and keeping business and leisure travel going despite severe challenges has given decision-makers something to fight for.
Together, we have proposed a series of tactical and strategic tourism recovery fixes based on careful assessment and planning. I am honored to have been a part of it all, with a strong bias towards more local engagement across the visitor industry.
During this time, two flexible written strategies have emerged from the cooperative teamwork of public agencies and private industry:
1. The Guam Short-Term Tourism Recovery Plan and Situation Report: Approved by the GVB Board of Directors on December 23, 2024, this text is a “tactical action plan…to urgently reverse substantial declines in visitor arrivals and restore market share.” As the front cover of this policy paper also states, it was “prepared collaboratively by the Guam Visitors Bureau, private sector executives and stakeholders, with insights from source market professionals and public feedback.”
2. The Tourism Recovery Plan for the Government of Guam: This evidence-based study was developed for the Government of Guam’s Bureau of Statistics and Plans by private consultancy PKF hospitality LLC. It’s a deep dive into cause and effect and focuses on long-term solutions for our destination’s sustainable recovery. PKF presented a comprehensive, 200-page draft of this report to BSP in May of last year. I helped to lead this ambitious project and worked with our team to identify pilot projects to get us going. Hiking trails, a sakman/galaide project, tree-planting/ecotourism experiences, and transportation solutions for tourism workers top the list of “actionable now” initiatives.
First things first: “Now” is no time for guesswork. We must take informed, calculated risks and administer time-bound execution to plug market holes before our ship of commerce takes on any more water.
Together, under the direct visitor industry revitalization orders pronounced by Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero late last year, GVB is staying the course on our mission to guide the recovery of local tourism, fully aware of AB Won Pat International’s role as an air traffic connection hub that unites the island communities of Micronesia with each other and regions beyond.
At the moment, team efforts are laser-focused on:
1. Destination product improvement.
2. Scaling occupancies in the Tumon resort zone.
3. Maximizing in-transit passenger throughput and arrivals at our air terminal.
These efforts are taking form in temporary incentive agreements with private airlines, value-added guest promotions, and local initiatives to paint, repair, and improve our public and private properties.
It is our hope that an improved destination, together with a limited-period promo plan characterized by fuller planeloads, group travel discounts, and sponsored shopping credits will secure new routes during the global aircraft shortage, bridge the confidence gap in soft Asian currencies, and help steer our destination back towards an environment of healthy competition again.
Si Yu’os Ma’åse’ yan BIBA Mes CHamoru!
Régine Biscoe Lee
Régine Biscoe Lee is an Asian/Pacific Islander community leader, a daughter of Guam and the President & CEO of the Guam Visitors Bureau. Régine served as senator in the 34th & 35th Guam Legislatures and her legislative work continues to strengthen Guam’s workforce, support small business, bolster regional alliances, and protect our environment. Lee served as a Congressional Policy Advisor, Legislative Chief of Staff, and consultant for businesses, government agencies, and local and global non-profits. Please send comments or questions to GVB at communityrelations@visitguam.
Click here to read full column
Challenging Ourselves Forward
Håfa Adai, Todus Håmyu, I Taotao Guåhan!
As we celebrate Mes CHamoru and Women’s History Month, I am deeply honored to step into the role of President and CEO of the Guam Visitors Bureau. I understand the responsibility entrusted to me and am driven to work harder and do better because of it.
Spend any amount of time on Guam, and you’ll quickly learn one thing—tourism is a vital part of our economy. Good times mean new jobs, retail stores, restaurants, and attractions. Tough times mean fighting every day to keep people employed, the lights on, and the doors open.
Bearing this in mind during an enormously challenging period in the history of Destination Guam’s tour-and-travel sector, I spent the last two years meeting with and hearing from visitor industry stakeholders, interviewing folks from front-of-house staff to tour guide operators, hotel management to cultural practitioners, and many others to better inform a tourism recovery plan. That work, in large part, is why I felt compelled to help lead GVB through this critical moment.
While anyone can point to the things our tourism industry could do better, rarely have I seen us praise what so many in this community already know but might not say.
The truth is that GVB isn’t tourism—you are.
Whether in our public or private sectors here on the island or in our source markets across the waters, we have the consistent work of managers and frontline workers to thank for keeping tourism alive and kicking.
But it goes far beyond that.
At this critical moment, while we’ve all endured a punishing series of health, economic, and weather-related setbacks, I’m maintaining a net-positive outlook as I walk through the front door of GVB as its board-elected president and CEO.
My confidence stems from the passion and dedication of every person who serves our visitor industry, coupled with one of Destination Guam’s best selling points—the Håfa Adai spirit and warmth of our people.
As the dedicated workers of our industry have held the line against economic decline, creative solutions have emerged in the face of a tough comeback. Showing up to work every day and keeping business and leisure travel going despite severe challenges has given decision-makers something to fight for.
Together, we have proposed a series of tactical and strategic tourism recovery fixes based on careful assessment and planning. I am honored to have been a part of it all, with a strong bias towards more local engagement across the visitor industry.
During this time, two flexible written strategies have emerged from the cooperative teamwork of public agencies and private industry:
1. The Guam Short-Term Tourism Recovery Plan and Situation Report: Approved by the GVB Board of Directors on December 23, 2024, this text is a “tactical action plan…to urgently reverse substantial declines in visitor arrivals and restore market share.” As the front cover of this policy paper also states, it was “prepared collaboratively by the Guam Visitors Bureau, private sector executives and stakeholders, with insights from source market professionals and public feedback.”
2. The Tourism Recovery Plan for the Government of Guam: This evidence-based study was developed for the Government of Guam’s Bureau of Statistics and Plans by private consultancy PKF hospitality LLC. It’s a deep dive into cause and effect and focuses on long-term solutions for our destination’s sustainable recovery. PKF presented a comprehensive, 200-page draft of this report to BSP in May of last year. I helped to lead this ambitious project and worked with our team to identify pilot projects to get us going. Hiking trails, a sakman/galaide project, tree-planting/ecotourism experiences, and transportation solutions for tourism workers top the list of “actionable now” initiatives.
First things first: “Now” is no time for guesswork. We must take informed, calculated risks and administer time-bound execution to plug market holes before our ship of commerce takes on any more water.
Together, under the direct visitor industry revitalization orders pronounced by Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero late last year, GVB is staying the course on our mission to guide the recovery of local tourism, fully aware of AB Won Pat International’s role as an air traffic connection hub that unites the island communities of Micronesia with each other and regions beyond.
At the moment, team efforts are laser-focused on:
1. Destination product improvement.
2. Scaling occupancies in the Tumon resort zone.
3. Maximizing in-transit passenger throughput and arrivals at our air terminal.
These efforts are taking form in temporary incentive agreements with private airlines, value-added guest promotions, and local initiatives to paint, repair, and improve our public and private properties.
It is our hope that an improved destination, together with a limited-period promo plan characterized by fuller planeloads, group travel discounts, and sponsored shopping credits will secure new routes during the global aircraft shortage, bridge the confidence gap in soft Asian currencies, and help steer our destination back towards an environment of healthy competition again.
Si Yu’os Ma’åse’ yan BIBA Mes CHamoru!
Régine Biscoe Lee
Régine Biscoe Lee is an Asian/Pacific Islander community leader, a daughter of Guam and the President & CEO of the Guam Visitors Bureau. Régine served as senator in the 34th & 35th Guam Legislatures and her legislative work continues to strengthen Guam’s workforce, support small business, bolster regional alliances, and protect our environment. Lee served as a Congressional Policy Advisor, Legislative Chief of Staff, and consultant for businesses, government agencies, and local and global non-profits. Please send comments or questions to GVB at communityrelations@visitguam.
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