On the heels of a tour with social media influencers in partnership with the Guam Visitors Bureau and Marianas Visitors Authority, Rota Mayor Aubry Hocog said they’re exploring options to bring more tourists in as they advocate for lower airfare.

“When we visited the Guam Joint Region [Marianas] Fair, we spoke to many military families. They were open to riding boats from Guam to Rota. And so this prompted our conversation with the director of the ports Rory Respicio, along with some Guam mayors to get their support to see how the municipality of Rota can donate a docking slip to Guam and that can be somewhat of a compromise or a bridge, to really promote and encourage more boat captains to use their vessel to transport, not only people, but also passengers between Guam and Rota,” said Hocog.

Rota is hosting its Gilita Festival this week, highlighting its unique culture, food, art, and music.

As leaders work to revive the economy, the Rota Mayor said there are also plans to revive some hotels. Currently, there are only 55 active hotel rooms with a few b and b options.

There's already a lot of movements, steering towards renovating a lot of the vacant hotels here. I've met with many investors, especially with the smaller ones, that have already gone into conversations about possibly leasing them,” she said.

“And then with, of course, our larger hotels…there has already been an interest. We just need to work with DPL for them to open to accept proposals. And then of course, we are still waiting with the Rota Resort issue so that they can have a timeframe to welcome proposals as well,” she added.

She told KUAM there are plans to work with the military to upgrade the airport and seaport.