Filipino tourists already welcome on Guam
ON February 24, Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) successfully held a webinar highlighting its 2021 travel forecasts as the Philippines prepares for resumption of international trips.
GVB representatives also shared their insights on Filipino travel patterns, new flight protocols, and confidently offered Guam to be the Filipino's next travel destination.
According a report by John Giray, Commercial Specialist in the US Department of Commerce of the US Embassy in the Philippines, approximately 208,501 visitors from the Philippines visited the United States in 2019. The second and fourth quarter of the year was peak season of Filipino travelers. However, as expected, the numbers fell due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“There was an 80 percent decrease in 2020. [But] we are optimistic that once the industry opens, numbers will spike back, and even further as many are excited to visit US. We are keeping our strong relationship with our US partners for a strong marketing promotions to all US destinations,” Giray shared during the virtual event.
Guam is the Philippines' nearest US tourism destination, with only a four-hour flight in between. The American territory is close to the heart of many Filipinos not just because of shopping experience, but because of the rest of the island adventures Guam offers.
Meanwhike, Philip Gejon, Sales Manager for the Guam Visitors Bureau-Philippines, revealed that leisure and business travel continue to be open on Guam even when the pandemic began.
“To be honest, Guam did not close its doors for tourists during the pandemic. Guam has remained an open destination for tourists all around the world. It's just that upon arrival on Guam, there is a 14-day mandatory quarantine in the government facility for travelers,” he said.
Guam afforded to keep their borders open as they placed strict measurements for all arriving visitors. The difference, as Gejon furthered, is that Guam shoulders the 14-day quarantine at an approved rental lodging (or personal residence, subject for approval) and testing requirements upon each visitor's arrival, following the orders of US' Department of Public Health and Social Service.
“If you already took the test in the Philippines and it turned out negative, you still have to do the 14 day quarantine in Guam. Also, if you arrived on Guam and you took the test there and turned out negative, you are still required to finish the quarantine,” Gejon clarified.
Guam allows all visitors coming in as long as they have a valid US Visa and they will be undergoing quarantine in a government facility. At the moment though, application for new US Visa is currently on hold at the Embassy. Application for renewals, however, are still accepted.
“We are promoting Guam as a destination to those clients who have actual visas already available. It will be a challenge if it is your first time to apply for a US visa. But if you have an existing visa on hand, I don't think traveling to Guam will be an issue,” said Gejon.
Finally, as travel begins to reopen throughout the world, Guam is hoping that Filipinos can visit their tropical island paradise as their next travel destination.
“We are a very close destination, very convenient to access from the Philippines but more importantly, you can experience a safe and hygienic destination experience. We have a method of containment for the pandemic, and if you haven't heard, it has to do with Covid Area Risk (CAR) Scoring. It's a formula designed to measure detection of Covid, it's spread and hospitalization issues. So the most ideal CAR Score for Guam would be 2.5,” assured Dr. Gerry Perez, Vice President of Guam Visitors Bureau.
“So as you can see, these are the metrics we use to assure our visitors of the safety and security of Guam as a destination. Please think about us and come to Guam. We have a lot to offer in terms of history, culture that's very close to the Philippines,” he ended.