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 data confirms that tourism supports one out of every five jobs on the island.
Furthermore, without the annual tax revenues generated by the tourism industry, individual Guam households would be required to contribute an additional $3,700 each year in local taxes to maintain public infrastructure. GVB officials confirmed the bureau received approximately $27 million to $28 million from the Tourist Attraction Fund to sustain operations.
The bureau 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. These beautification efforts extend systematically across Påle' San Vitores Road and the public beachside zones of Tumon and Hagåtña Bay. To manage public waste, GVB deployed a collection of trash receptacles featuring "Take It!" 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.
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. Over its two-day runtime, the Philippine event generated significant public engagement. Day one captured an estimated reach of 71,400 individuals and 7,200 engaged traffic, while day two recorded an estimated reach of 68,400 individuals and 6,800 engaged traffic, bringing the combined campaign totals to 139,800 in estimated reach and 14,000 in engaged visitors.
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. The night market has officially moved south to the Tumon Sands Plaza, operating from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. every Sunday from June 21 through July 26. 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. The installation 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.
Looking ahead into the summer season, the bureau is launching a 13-week interactive digital engagement initiative titled the "Guam Photo Hunt" campaign, which runs from July 1 through September 30, 2026, via visitguam.com/photohunt. The contest offers a roundtrip flight ticket to Taiwan for a local resident and a roundtrip ticket to Guam for an off-island visitor. On the national stage, GVB and the Guam America 250 Commission will represent the island at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., from June 25 to July 10, to expand domestic market interest.
These promotional efforts coincide with an extensive series of island-wide war survivor masses, village fiestas, and sacred historic memorials throughout June and July, culminating in the official 82nd Liberation Day Parade and Festival on July 21, 2026. 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 data confirms that tourism supports one out of every five jobs on the island.
Furthermore, without the annual tax revenues generated by the tourism industry, individual Guam households would be required to contribute an additional $3,700 each year in local taxes to maintain public infrastructure. GVB officials confirmed the bureau received approximately $27 million to $28 million from the Tourist Attraction Fund to sustain operations.
The bureau 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. These beautification efforts extend systematically across Påle' San Vitores Road and the public beachside zones of Tumon and Hagåtña Bay. To manage public waste, GVB deployed a collection of trash receptacles featuring "Take It!" 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.
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. Over its two-day runtime, the Philippine event generated significant public engagement. Day one captured an estimated reach of 71,400 individuals and 7,200 engaged traffic, while day two recorded an estimated reach of 68,400 individuals and 6,800 engaged traffic, bringing the combined campaign totals to 139,800 in estimated reach and 14,000 in engaged visitors.
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. The night market has officially moved south to the Tumon Sands Plaza, operating from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. every Sunday from June 21 through July 26. 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. The installation 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.
Looking ahead into the summer season, the bureau is launching a 13-week interactive digital engagement initiative titled the "Guam Photo Hunt" campaign, which runs from July 1 through September 30, 2026, via visitguam.com/photohunt. The contest offers a roundtrip flight ticket to Taiwan for a local resident and a roundtrip ticket to Guam for an off-island visitor. On the national stage, GVB and the Guam America 250 Commission will represent the island at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., from June 25 to July 10, to expand domestic market interest.
These promotional efforts coincide with an extensive series of island-wide war survivor masses, village fiestas, and sacred historic memorials throughout June and July, culminating in the official 82nd Liberation Day Parade and Festival on July 21, 2026. mbj
