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GVB: airline incentives are driving recent seat recovery; bureau seeks continued TAF and supplemental support to reach 1 million+ arrivals in FY26
Summary
GVB told the committee that restored seat capacity — particularly from Korea — is driven by airline incentives and that sustaining and expanding that capacity will require continued funding from the Tourist Attraction Fund and supplemental sources.
Regine Biscoli, president of the Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB), told the Committee on Finance and Government Operations that Guam's visitor arrivals are tracking between the bureau's conservative and moderate forecasts and that the bureau's current projection for FY25 is roughly 785,000 visitors. GVB highlighted recent marketing and earned‑media wins — including a TV Tokyo visit expected to reach millions of viewers and a sold‑out Hanwha Eagles event featuring Guam branding in Korea — as factors supporting recovery.
Biscoli reported a series of external shocks that disrupted seat capacity earlier in the fiscal year (Typhoon Mawar, airline merger impacts in Korea, weak currencies, airline accidents and global aircraft delivery delays). She said airline incentives that began in December and were escalated in spring have materially increased seats from multiple Korean cities (projected monthly seat capacity rising from ~37,918 early in the year to 50,629 in July and ~60,000 in August). Biscoli warned "these gains are not guaranteed" and said sustained incentives are needed to prevent loss of restored capacity: without incentives she said the conservative forecast would produce about 667,787 arrivals versus the optimistic 1,044,162 arrival target for FY26.
GVB said maintaining the optimistic trajectory would require continued support from the Tourist Attraction Fund and additional funding sources; the bureau provided an estimate that $10–11 million in airline incentives would be required to sustain the current plan. GVB representatives also said they had reprioritized administrative costs and tapped internal savings for FY25 but could not count on the same internal moves for FY26 without legislative or other outside support.
Senators asked for specifics about how GVB is incorporating BSP’s tourism recovery plan recommendations and whether industry members have been engaged in GVB prioritization. GVB said it is coordinating with BSP, GHRA and other industry members on pilot destination‑management projects and that membership meetings and marketing committees have been used to solicit industry input. GVB said it will provide the committee with additional detail about planned incentive funding and anticipated returns on investment.
