HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Guam is a much safer place to visit now than last year as it has so far reached 78% full vaccination among vaccine-eligible individuals, according to Guam Visitors Bureau officials who also shared how at least four airlines have asked GVB for a subsidy of $56,000 to $85,000 per flight in order to bring in passengers to the island.
“We are not in the game,” GVB Vice President Gerry Perez said at the Wednesday meeting of the Recovery Task Force, referring to GVB’s inability to afford $25.7 million worth of subsidies that airlines have asked for.
Perez did not want to name the airlines which he said operate between Guam and Japan, Korea or Taiwan.
One particular airline, Perez said, is asking for $85,000 per flight for 19 flights for a total of $1.6 million, and another one is seeking $74,000 per flight for 243 flights for nearly $18 million.
Two others asked for subsidies between those price ranges.
Perez said with the pandemic decimating international travel, GVB as a buyer is disadvantaged by the nature of what’s going on and the airlines as the suppliers have varying motivations that he said may include “exploiting opportunity to maximize equipment utilization.”
Another option and the least expensive one to try to bring in tourists to Guam is an “airline seat subsidy” support program but Perez said there’s no interest in it so far, except for Taiwan.
GVB President Carl Gutierrez said the only game in town now is GVB’s Air V&V or vaccination and vacation program and it’s been Taiwan that’s bringing the most number of tourists so far under it. He said it behooves GVB to continue the program.
Charter flights from Taiwan since July have brought more than 1,400 visitors under GVB’s Air V&V program, but GVB didn’t subsidize those flights. Travel agencies have been paid $100 per passenger instead.
GVB is now trying to negotiate 17 to 19 additional Taiwan charter flights from late August to December, but seeks additional funding from the board to provide a seat subsidy program.
A similar airline seat subsidy program in 2018 and 2019 resulted in GVB paying out $1.1 million, at a time when Guam’s travel industry was having record-breaking arrivals, Perez said.
As an example, GVB paid an airline operating between Guam and Japan $5.21 per seat and a charter flight $17.37 at the time, Perez said, without naming the airline. Now, he said, GVB needs to reinvigorate its pandemic-hit tourism.
Despite challenges with finances and pushback from some GVB board members for additional funding support, Perez, Gutierrez as well as Task Force Vice Chairman Ben Ferguson of Pacific Islands Club said there are other things in Guam’s favor right now.
One is the high Covid-19 full vaccination rate which, according to Perez, is the reason why hospitalization is not as high as last year even with numerous new cases now being detected.
Full vaccination does not prevent infection but minimizes the risk of having severe symptoms that lead to hospitalization, officials said.
“The main message is to make sure that people understand that, in spite of the outbreaks, it’s still under containment and we’re in a different place today compared to last year when it comes to the overall situation,” he said at the task force meeting.
GVB and task force officials, however, acknowledged that despite Guam’s high vaccination rate, the volume of tourists would depend on the vaccination rates in its main tourism markets of Japan, Korea and Taiwan, which are still low compared to Guam’s.
Guam reached an 80% herd immunity goal among adults 18 years old and older on July 30 and the number continues to go up.
It has also fully vaccinated nearly 78% of all vaccine-eligible individuals, or those at least 12 years and older.
“And any breakthroughs are very minor when it comes to infection rate,” Perez said.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero has not reinstated pandemic restrictions despite recent increases in cases and hospitalization, as well as the latest Covid-19-related fatality.
Perez said GVB is also planning to hold a roundtable with a small group of interested stakeholders to discuss ideas “on what we can do to really open up even though the scales have not arrived yet.”
Of 128 tourism-related businesses that responded to GVB’s survey, 112 or 87.5% said they are fully or partially open.
A tourist comes out of beach waters in Tumon Bay on Wednesday. Certain airlines have asked for more than $25 million in subsidies to bring tourists to Guam.
