News and Media Press Release

  KUAM NEWS
 (MAY 25, 2022)

Guam Travel & Tourism Association shares purpose, mission & vision

Local Employers Assistance Program (LEAP) - Valley of the Latte

The Valley of the Latte, Local Employers Assistance Program Video

Businesses call for LEAP 2 amid 'rapidly rising costs,' slow tourism

Pacific Daily News: October 11, 2022

Amid optimism about a tourism comeback, many of Guam’s businesses are still struggling to stay open and keep their workers employed while also facing significantly higher costs of power and shipping.

They seek more government help, specifically by launching a second round of the Local Employers Assistance Program, or LEAP 2.

‘Difficult time’
“In my personal view, this is the most difficult time we have experienced during the last 30 months since the pandemic began. We are seeing rapidly rising costs all over the island,” said Richard Hart, president and chief executive officer at Apple Pacific Restaurant Group, which operates Olive Garden, Applebee’s, IHOP, Pieology Pizzeria and LongHorn Steakhouse. (more).

Tourism organizations gear up for industry, gubernatorial forums

Pacific Daily News: October 6, 2022

The economy and the return of the visitor industry will be key topics of discussion for the month of October as local tourism organizations, the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association and the Guam Travel & Tourism Association, team up to host two events in the coming days.

Tourism forum
Key industry leaders and officials from the University of Guam will be sharing important visitor industry information and announcing results from the latest economic survey regarding the conditions of the local business market during the upcoming 2022 Tourism Forum. (more).

Guam businesses discuss challenges of restarting tourism

AGADIR-GROUP: June 11, 2022
The most common complaint from South Korean tourists who recently visited the island: “Guam was not the same as before,” said Jin-Ju Lee, a regional planning leader for Korean travel company HanaTour.


“There were no shuttles running, restaurants to go to or no place to shop,” Lee said during a tourism recovery forum Tuesday morning at the Hyatt Regency Guam.

The “Get Guam Going” forum is the first large event organized by the new Guam Travel & Tourism Association, whose purpose is to provide information and advocacy for Guam small businesses. (more)

Guam Tourism is Expected to Make a “Very Slow” Comeback

Pacific News Center: June 8, 2022
As Guam reopens to the world, tourism is expected to make a comeback, but at a “very slow” rate.

Yesterday the Guam Travel and Tourism Association hosted its first Forum at the Hyatt Regency Guam Hotel. The forum included local experts and source market suppliers Rakuten from Japan and Hana Tour from Korea for insight and perspective of what Guam’s Recovery foresight could be. (more)

Tourism conference brings leading travel agencies to Guam

The Guam Daily Post: June 3, 2022
As the island prepares for a summer season that could lift the pandemic-depressed tourism industry, an event next week can help businesses prepare for what South Korean and Japanese travelers will be looking for in a COVID-19 era.

The Guam Travel and Tourism Association will be hosting “Get Guam Going” on Tuesday, as both an online webinar and in-person forum. According to a flyer announcing the event, it aims to answer questions tourism stakeholders may have like, “What is happening in our core markets,” and “What is our outlook?” (more)

Group will hold forum on future of tourism

Pacific Daily News: June 3, 2022
Travel agencies from South Korea and Japan will provide insight into the future of Guam’s tourism industry during a forum hosted by the Guam Travel and Tourism Association next week.

The forum is scheduled from 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency Guam, according to a news release from the organization. (more)

New Guam tourism association aims to grapple with industry issues

Marianas Business Journal: May 27, 2022

A group of businesses largely from the tourism industry want to face Guam’s tourism issues head on.

Speaking at a news conference on May 24 at Tumon Sands Plaza, chairwoman Jovyna Lujan of the Guam Travel & Tourism Association – who is also merchandize manager of DKSH Guam Inc. – said, “As we commemorate 55 years of tourism and travel between Guam and Japan – as we begin to see familiar signs of visitors in our businesses and on San Vitores Road, we also recognize the critical work which lies ahead.” (more)

Our View: Guam Travel and Tourism Association will help strengthen local businesses

Pacific Daily News: May 26, 2022

Most of us are getting used to seeing faces without masks as we fill up graduation ceremony venues or stroll through the Micronesia Mall. We don’t have to show our vaccine cards when we head into restaurants, music festivals are returning with vibrant crowds and COVID-19 restrictions are, for the moment, fading in the rearview mirror as we forge past pandemic protocols. (more)

A Newly Registered Non Profit Org. Established for the Tourism Industry

Pacific News Center: May 26, 2022
A Newly registered, private, non-profit organization was established for the tourism industry. (more)

'A better comeback for Guam': New group takes a closer look at tourism recovery

The Guam Daily Post: May 25, 2022

Guam's tourism would take a few years to fully recover from the pandemic's devastation but now is the time to reimagine a "better" industry than what it was before, including considering a shift in focus from quantity to quality, according to the newly formed Guam Travel & Tourism Association on Tuesday.(more)

The tourists are back, but the quantity is not. Guam News

Hawaii News: May 24, 2022

Guam’s beaches, cultural attractions and shopping malls have become a bit busy lately with the return of most Korean travelers, albeit in much smaller numbers than the tourism industry was accustomed to before the pandemic. (more)

New travel group wants to aid recovery

Pacific Daily News: May 24, 2022

A small group of tourists arrived at the Tumon Sands Plaza late Tuesday morning, riding there on the free shuttle service paid for by the Guam Visitors Bureau.

The sidewalks of the Tumon Bay tourism district were mostly empty, as they have been since the pandemic shutdown, but there are now more signs of life, with a few visitors walking between hotels and businesses and taking advantage of the free, but limited, shuttle service.(more)

Monte Mesa: squabble at GVB will work itself, leaders want same result for Guam's tourism industry

KUAM News: May 24, 2022

Guam Travel & Tourism Association spokesman Monte Mesa weighed-in on the current tensions between the Guam Visitors Bureau's board and president, and CEO Carl Gutierrez. Mesa believes its just a difference of opinion on strategy, particularly which markets to focus on. (more)