The nominations were made at its Nov. 21 meeting which marks the first meeting of Gerry S.A. Perrez as acting GVB president and CEO.
Robert Hofmann, Mayor’s Council of Guam director for GVB, nominated Marie Guerrero for the position. Guerrero is the CEO of B&G Pacific LLC, which owns Three Squares and is the chairperson of the Guam Hotel and Restaurants Association.
In addition, Jovyna Lujan was nominated by Director Ken Yanagisawa. Lujan has worked as a merchandise manager at DKSH Guam Inc., a retail-wholesaler who has locations in Guam and Saipan and she serves as the chairperson for the Guam Travel and Tourism Association.
The board will convene again in its next meeting to make a decision on the nominations.
The board also created a new committee to begin the search for the next president and general manager of GVB to replace Carl T.C. Gutierrez after his resignation on Nov. 15.
Heading this committee will be directors of each appointment: one from the legislature, the governor, and from the membership election. While specific directors were not decided, the board made a motion to initiate the request for procurement for a new president and general manager to fall under the purview of the search committee.
According to Yanagisawa, the governor committed to additional funding to develop the Korean market with its main challenge currently being airlift capacity.
Up to $8 million can be assigned to the Korean airline incentives, he said. The board discussed that funds for infrastructure improvements for Matapang Beach be moved to fund the incentives and will be recouped by hot bonds, which Chairman George Chiu said has worked well for the board in the past.
Perez gave a brief update on the merged tourism recovery plan where he outlined that airline incentives, targeted marketing campaigns, destination development and maintenance, private sector product improvements, and community engagement and support are its key targets to achieve.
The board resolution for the agreement between the English Premier League Football team, Tottenham Hotspur will be delayed yet again. This time the board is citing changes in priorities due to the tourism recovery efforts on the island.
GVB management will work with its counterparts in Tottenham to possibly move the agreement to the next season. Six months remain until the season ends for the Premier League.
The board will look to develop two more underrated markets being Taiwan and the Philippines.
According to Vice Chairman Joaquin P.L.G. Cook, roughly one million Filipinos have U.S. visas which can be a boon for Guam’s tourism if tapped into.
Additionally, United Airlines will begin its direct flights from Taiwan to Guam in April with Director Milton Morinaga saying that there is much excitement for the flights to begin and a Taiwanese airship cargo should be explored. mbj