Pacific Games Council (PGC) executive director Andrew Minogue told insidethegames that Guam had officially registered their interest, while Samoa would follow suit by tomorrow's deadline.

Tahiti, who lost out to Tonga for the 2019 Games in the vote in 2012, may also lodge a bid but are still in talks with their Government.

Tonga withdrew in May but were given until June 30 to address financial concerns which may have rescued their hosting of the Games.

The country were then officially stripped of the event after the PGC terminated the hosting agreement.

It came after Prime Minister Akilisi Pōhiva confirmed the country's decision was final.

The PGC will now conduct inspection visits to the potential candidates and are still expecting to name Tonga's replacement at the end of August.

A delegation from the PGC are set to travel to Samoa the week commencing August 7, before they head to Guam two weeks later.

The PGC will also inspect Tahiti should they decide to declare their interest in staging the event in two years' time.

Both Fiji and Papua New Guinea, who hosted the 2015 edition of the Pacific Games in capital city Port Moresby, had already ruled themselves out of the running.

"We will be in the fortunate position to have a choice," Minogue told insidethegames.

Guam, an unincorporated and organised territory of the United States, last staged the PGC's flagship quadrennial event in 1999 in Santa Rita.

The Pacific island had previously played host in 1975, when the event took place in Tumon.

Samoa has hosted the Pacific Games on two occasions, in Apia in 1983 and 2007, and also staged the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games.

Should Tahiti enter the race and secure the 2019 hosting rights, it would be the third time the event has been held there.

The overseas collectivity of France hosted the Games in 1971 and 1995, with capital city Papeete staging the sporting action.

The PGC had previously warned they would consider legal action against the Tongan Government for breach of contract for their decision to withdraw.

On June 7, Pōhiva said he wanted to focus the country’s finances on more important areas of the economy.

Earlier reports had claimed that ‘Aisake Eke, the former Minister of Finance, had told the Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee that funds had already been set aside for the Games by the Government.

A spokesman for the Tongan Cabinet told Kaniva News in June that Pōhiva had decided to save the country from what has been described as a "costly mistake".

He added that Pōhiva was informed of a World Bank report, which warned the Polynesian kingdom could find itself in financial trouble in the scenario that it went ahead and hosted the Games in 2019.

Pōhiva cast doubt on Tonga's ability to host the event last year when he warned a number of construction projects for the event were unlikely to meet their deadlines.