With Guam’s tourism recovery still lagging, talk at the Mayors Council of Guam Thursday turned to how supporting village upkeep, or lack of it, impacts the visitor experience.
Discussion ranged from historic sites and selfie-promoting village signs to uncut grass, trash, crime and homelessness.
A report from tourism industry insiders released in October flagged a “tourism crisis” with visitor arrivals still less than half of what they were pre-pandemic.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero made a rare visit to the Guam Visitors Bureau late last month asking for a plan to address the slow tourism recovery, and leadership at GVB and the Guam Economic Development Authority have since traded tense letters on the state of the island economy.
“The villages get sucked into that mess,” MCOG President and Piti Mayor Jesse Alig told his fellow mayors.
Alig said the council had to ask itself how the villages could help boost the “failing” tourism industry, given the money GEDA and GVB pumped into improving municipalities.
MCOG Vice President and Sinajana Mayor Robert Hofmann noted that GVB in recent years has pumped more money into “destination management,” taking care of parks and beaches, cutting grass, and putting up village signs.
That kind of work wasn’t done for years, Hofmann said.
Members of the business community were now wanting government funding for airline incentives and other programs, but Hofmann said the Mayors Council had to ensure that village-based tourist attractions were “not forgotten” in the mix.
“You have historic sites, you have cultural sites, you have value that people go to and want to be a part of,” Hofmann told mayors.
Mayors needed to list those down and make a case for their continued support.
Alig added that mayors have to think “outside the box” about how GVB, GEDA, and mayors can generate value for both tourists and the villages.
Village improvements needed to “trickle down” into the economy, he added.
Getting more sports competitions to attract visitors is among options, but Alig also pointed at issues with trash and uncut brush along the main road.
“When you’re talking about the bigger picture, that’s part of the bigger picture,” Alig said.
Hofmann added that if GEDA was looking to borrow a bond on hotel occupancy taxes to support the visitor industry, “how much of that HOT bond can go to the communities?”
Improving the experience at Mount Lamlam in the south, or fixing the old Spanish Bridge were two examples.
Hågat Vice Mayor Christopher Fejeran said southern villages have attractions for visitors but can’t maintain them alone.
“I think a lot of our sites down in the south need to be spruced up. And with our budget, we can’t do that ourselves,” Fejeran said.
GVB and GEDA should come down and see what kind of work needed to be done, he added.
Humåtak Mayor Johnny Quinata said his village was host to a number of parks popular with military and tourists, where people were now dumping trash, including Sella Bay.
“We’re picking up college couches, freezers, people are dumping on our park sites,” Quinata said.
They also have to keep vegetation from growing over sites without funding.
Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon Mayor Louise Rivera pointed at the big issue with stray dogs all along the village, which is now a big problem.
At a recent grand opening event, Rivera noted strays in the parking lot following visitors around.
Dogs are one of several issues that impact visitors, she added.
“The homeless, the criminal activity that’s going on, the murder we just had. You know, there’s all these different things that need to be corrected,” Rivera said.
Hofmann said he would be sending out a form to mayors to gather their input on the matter, and formulate talking points as tourism discussions move forward.
“These are things that are not going to get solved overnight,” he said.
Mayors did have to balance the desire for more visitors against the desire to preserve Guam’s history and keep it friendly to residents, Hofmann noted.
“I don’t think the industry should come in and say, I want Sella Bay to have 200 parking slots,” he said.
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