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Airport testing to launch soon; full tourism recovery by 2024

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You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.TOURIST RIDES IDLE: Boats that used to take tourists out for deep sea fishing, parasailing or dolphin watching sit idle on Nov. 18 at the Hagåtña Boat Basin. Guam's full tourism recovery is expected by 2024, according to industry officials. David Castro/The Guam Daily PostTESTING: A Wyland mural greets departing passengers in front of the United Airlines check-in counter at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport in Tiyan on Oct. 11. COVID-19 testing at the airpor could start in January. The&nbsp; David Castro/The Guam Daily PostBack to TopTOURIST RIDES IDLE: Boats that used to take tourists out for deep sea fishing, parasailing or dolphin watching sit idle on Nov. 18 at the Hagåtña Boat Basin. Guam's full tourism recovery is expected by 2024, according to industry officials. David Castro/The Guam Daily PostTESTING: A Wyland mural greets departing passengers in front of the United Airlines check-in counter at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport in Tiyan on Oct. 11. COVID-19 testing at the airpor could start in January. The&nbsp; David Castro/The Guam Daily PostTourism and airport officials on Tuesday said COVID-19 testing at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport could begin in January, which could lead to changes in the mandatory 14-day quarantine.Negative coronavirus test results from Korea, Japan and Taiwan could soon be accepted, in time for the target reopening of tourism over the next three months, the officials also said.These were presented at the Guam Visitors Bureau's Tuesday general membership meeting focused on 2021 tourism recovery initiatives.The ongoing COVID-19 vaccination and fewer COVID-19 positive cases also "help create a positive outlook for the industry," GVB Vice President Gerry Perez said.However, full tourism recovery may not happen until about 2024 because of severe disruption in the industry, he said."We can begin to see green shoots of tourism business opportunities coming up, by the third and fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021," he said. "We don't expect normalized arrivals perhaps for another three to four years."Tests from other countriesJohn Quinata, executive manager of the Guam International Airport Authority, and GVB's Perez, said they're able to get confirmation from the Department of Public Health and Social Services that they will accept 32 types of PCR or molecular COVID-19 test results from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan."This then opens possibilities for us to get more quarantine measures relaxed," Perez said.GVB also would like to see Public Health "accept visitors from Japan, Korea and Taiwan with proof of negative PCR testing that's done within five days of arrival, so that you don't have to be inspected or go into quarantine," he said.This, he said, is a suggestion from GIAA that GVB "wholeheartedly recommends."Tourists from these source markets who have a negative PCR test and will stay on Guam for only five days or less should not be required to be quarantined, Perez told GVB members and guests."Or if they require testing before they return to their country, we will be able to provide that capability," Perez said.GVB and GIAA await Public Health acceptance of these recommendations, Perez and Quinata said.Quinata said GIAA is planning a pilot testing program either this week or next week at the airport, and depending on the results, this could be implemented as early as January.He and GIAA Deputy Executive Manager Ricky Hernandez said it's Public Health that drives action for the airport testing."From all the meetings that we had, the airport is ready to execute whatever course of action DPHSS approves at the airport," Quinata said during question-and-answer.Virus lingersGVB board Chairman Sonny Ada said the COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out globally in 2021 hold promise.But he noted the virus mutations and new border lockdowns are a reminder that despite planning and much hope for things to get better, "the virus still controls our destiny.""It still controls who, when and how we travel. It controls when Guam's tourism industry will flourish again," he said.From supporting efforts to flatten the curve, GVB is now refocusing on getting tourists back to Guam."There's a lot of work that still has to be done and I urge you to work with GVB and GHRA to get your businesses COVID-safe for guests," Ada told tourism industry representatives.Guam's tourism industry saw a record 1.6 million visitor arrivals in fiscal year 2019, only to see arrivals plummet when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in fiscal 2020."Tourism is dead, but from the ashes, the survivors should come out better," Ada said.He and Perez also reiterated GVB's position that allowing cannabis use, sale and advertising in Tumon would negatively impact Guam's image as a family-friendly destination mainly for Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese travelers.Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said tourism reopening could happen within the January to March period, while GVB officials said arrivals may not pick up until the third or fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, which begins in April.The tourism industry has been busy preparing to welcome back visitors.Perez said the World Travel &amp; Tourism Council authorized GVB to certify those that meet WTTC standards of safe travel protocols, and GIAA has been the first one "to get credentialed" for it.3,000 military members in hotelsMary Rhodes, president of the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association, briefed tourism industry representatives of ongoing initiatives, including rapid COVID-19 testing for industry workforce and issuing Guam-centered guidebook for hotels and restaurants and related industries.Rhodes said while tourism from Guam's major markets has been at a standstill, Guam's hotel industry has not stopped housing, lodging and feeding military service members."We need to keep in mind we have about 3,000 military personnel actually living on Guam and staying in hotels. So we have, I believe, 16 hotels that are approved by the military and about 3,000 of them are currently staying in hotels," Rhodes said.The 3,000 are on top of the movement of troops who are transiting in and out of Guam for a short period because of training, among other things.Guam, in the early months of the pandemic, also hosted the coronavirus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt."We actually have 3,000 military residing in the hotels so the military business at this time has really helped the hotels and restaurants and even other ancillary services like the laundry and our distributors," Rhodes said.Construction on military projects also continued throughout the pandemic.Economists and other business leaders said military spending and federal relief funds including unemployment aid has offset losses in the tourism industry.Haidee Eugenio Gilbert

You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.TOURIST RIDES IDLE: Boats that used to take tourists out for deep sea fishing, parasailing or dolphin watching sit idle on Nov. 18 at the Hagåtña Boat Basin. Guam's full tourism recovery is expected by 2024, according to industry officials. David Castro/The Guam Daily PostTESTING: A Wyland mural greets departing passengers in front of the United Airlines check-in counter at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport in Tiyan on Oct. 11. COVID-19 testing at the airpor could start in January. The&nbsp; David Castro/The...

Airport testing to launch soon; full tourism recovery by 2024

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