2nd Best November in visitor arrivals achieved
January 9, 2018
“We are proud of how Guam’s tourism industry endures, despite the challenges in this past year. As we start off 2018, we renew our commitment to growing our economy and our number one industry.”
- Governor Eddie Baza Calvo
November 2017 finishes second
Guam welcomed 122,377 visitors in November 2017, marking the second best November in Guam’s tourism history. November 2016 still remains as the top November with 124,442 visitors recorded.
“Much effort goes into promoting our island paradise and especially during the holiday season, we felt the love and hospitality of our people in welcoming former residents and visitors to Guam. Let’s keep the Håfa Adai spirit and Chamorro culture shining bright throughout this new year,” said Lt. Governor Ray Tenorio.
Arrivals from South Korea continued to grow in November with 61,093 visitors, which is 12,403 more visitors than the previous year.
“The work continues with recovery efforts in all of our source markets. While it looks like we will finish Calendar Year 2017 with another record year in visitor arrivals, we still have much to do in grow and diversify our visitor mix,” said GVB President and CEO Nathan Denight.
Summary of arrivals
Total Fiscal Year-to-Date arrivals decreased by 5%, while total Calendar Year-to-Date arrivals increased by 0.8%
For the month of November, Japan arrivals decreased by 26%, while Korea arrivals increased by 25.5%. Other visitor markets that showed increased arrivals include Hong Kong by 4.2%, the U.S. mainland by 23.7%, Palau by 25.4%, CNMI by 26.5%, Australia by 48.8% and Europe by 38.9%.
Media Contact: JOSH TYQUIENGCO - Public Information Officer
NOTE: The preliminary November 2017 arrivals report was delayed due to the major transition of the Guam Customs Declaration Forms to a newer, visitor friendly version, which began in November 2017. The GVB Research Department has simultaneously launched an updated analytics software to scan and process the data collected from the new forms. The software will enable GVB to produce more efficient reports and surveys that are used by the tourism industry.