It’s been over 100 days since Guam Visitors Bureau president and CEO Regine Biscoe Lee has been in office. She sat down with KUAM News to share key milestones, challenges, future priorities and more. 

"It’s been a very exciting 100 days," he said with enthusiasm as our interview began. "Lots of things have been accomplished." Biscoe Lee assessed her first two-and-a-half months in office, a significant benchmark as she assumed the role amid ongoing tourism recovery efforts. 

"I think we have met a lot of really big challenges head on. But in addition to those big challenges, there’s been a lot of opportunities for the tourism industry and the people of Guam," she stated.

When last we spoke, she gave the state of tourism a 'C+'. Now, she rates it a ‘B’.

She explained, "I think we have done a pretty good job. I wouldn’t say we’re at that A plus level yet, but definitely I would rate us at a ‘B.’ I think there’s definitely a lot of room to grow, as I mentioned, really increasing local participation in the industry and making sure that local businesses, hotels, restaurants, and cultural practitioners even are able to benefit from tourists, visitors and the dollars they bring into our economy."

For about half of those days, the president has been off-island, visiting key source market countries like Korea, Japan and Taiwan, meeting with employees on the ground and working to attract more visitors. 

And one key piece of feedback she notes is, "They want a place that's safe and secure, but they also want a place that has sustainability in mind. I really feel like the CHamoru culture really lends itself to that. I think that's one of our unique selling points, so why not market it that way?"

GVB has been working to clean up sites across the island alongside community partners for the benefit of both visitors and residents. Biscoe Lee said, "We’ve taken out literal paintbrushes and waterblasters to brighten that curb appeal, quite literally. We’re painting the medians, taking a look at tackling graffiti. We really tried to have that be a collaborative effort.

"But as much marketing we do, we really need to have that airlift and that seat capacity to bring them here. That’s really been our big challenge."

Visitor arrivals are still below half of pre-pandemic levels, at about 43.2% as of May, but air seat capacity from Korea is rapidly increasing.  "For example," she continued, "in the Korean market in June, we had about 30,000 seats available monthly. We’ve been able to grow that in July to about 50,000 seats and then in August, 60,000 seats. So at the end of August, we’re looking at a 53 percent increase in that market alone."

Influencer collaborations are also growing. GVB has been contracting Korean and Japanese influencers and she says results are showing.  "We’ve been able to tie that into certain promotions. We have promotions in Korea and Japan and we are able to link those and get those data back. So it’s not just necessarily about the numbers of followers, but taking that a step forward and making sure we have that connection in terms of the reach and awareness," she said.

She hopes to keep the momentum going. Future priorities include focusing more on sustainability, telling Guam’s unique story and even wellness tourism.

In the meantime, she shares the search for a new vice president is nearly over, as current VP Dr. Gerry Perez looks to step away, with just one more meeting to iron out.