GVB Korea mission 'well received'

A Guam Visitors Bureau delegation returned from its airline mission to South Korea feeling positive that its efforts to expand airline seat capacity and strengthen partnerships with leading Korean airlines "were well received," GVB said in a press release.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, who was part of the delegation, said, "We had very fruitful and promising discussions. Airline management teams were in full support of our programs and offerings. I am very proud of the GVB team both in Guam and Korea. Together, we will continue working to increase visitor arrivals and improve their overall experience on Guam."

One of the discussions involved a meeting with Philip S. Goldberg, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

The delegation met with Goldberg "to discuss visa entry requirements for special interest groups, with the aim of expanding GVB's marketing initiatives and creating new opportunities to attract Korean visitors to Guam," GVB said in the release.

GVB, days ahead of the Nov. 10 trip, reported a decline in arrivals from the Korea market. In the first nine days of October, 9,244 visitor arrivals were reported.

To date, the Korea source market has recovered only 50% of prepandemic arrival numbers.

GVB projected closing out the calendar year down by 51% with 370,303 arrivals from South Korea, a decline from 2023, which saw 371,903 Korean visitors, and 2019, which recorded 753,357.

GVB said the Guam delegation's mission involved talks with airlines to reinforce ties with major partners, which include Jeju Air, Jin Air, Korean Air and T'way, and give them a reason to add flights while preserving existing airline schedules.

"Korean visitors are essential to our business revenue. Currently, we have four airlines actively serving this market and the current seat capacity is about 60% of our prepandemic numbers from Korea. This mission gave us a great opportunity to speak face to face with airline CEOs on how Guam can collectively support expanded services for additional frequency, seasonal services, and consider new originating cities from Korea, adding to our current passenger base from Incheon and Busan airports," Guam International Airport Authority Executive Manager John M. Quinata said in the release.

Aside from the airline talks, the Guam delegation returned from the trip with a signed memorandum of understanding between GVB and Shinhan Card, which GVB said is one of Korea's largest financial service providers, boasting roughly 29 million cardholders.

Then-GVB President Carl Gutierrez, who resigned from GVB days after the trip, said, "Increasing visitor spend improves the value chain that our visitors and locals have come to enjoy."

According to GVB, Shinhan Card "has successfully driven Guam-bound consumer traffic through joint initiatives with GVB like the GoGo! Guam Pay, offering their cardholders exclusive discounts and added value for their Guam vacations."

"Recent data from Shinhan Card indicates that cardholder spending on Guam tripled in 2024 compared to the same promotional period in 2019," GVB added.

The Guam delegation to South Korea was led by Leon Guerrero, Gutierrez, GVB board director and Korea Marketing Committee Chair Ho Eun, GVB board director and Japan Marketing Committee Chair Ken Yanagisawa and Quinata.