October visitor arrivals show Japan market recovery

“There has been much work by the Guam Visitors Bureau and the tourism industry to showcase our Håfa Adai spirit and island hospitality. We continue to make great strides in growing our tourism Keep up the great work!”

- Governor Eddie Baza Calvo

 

Guam records second-best October and Japan recovery

The first month of Fiscal Year 2019 is off to a good start. Guam welcomed 121,656 visitors to the island in October 2018, a 7.2% increase from the previous year. It also became the second best October recorded in Guam’s tourism history.

“Governor Calvo and I have always supported a strong economy and a thriving tourism industry. We’re proud to see the efforts of our tourism workforce reach tangible results that benefit our local community. There may be challenges but it is important to highlight the bright spots that make our top industry shine,” said Lt. Governor Ray Tenorio.

Japan arrivals showed a 24.7% increase, while Korea arrivals grew 8.3%. Other markets that showed growth include Taiwan by 4.7%, the Philippines by 12%, Russia Federation by 71%, and the US by 36.6%.

The airline incentive program by the Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) and Guam International Airport Authority (GIAA) has helped with the continued recovery of the Japan market. Additionally, Guam will welcome 471 charter flights by the end of Calendar Year 2018. The island will also prepare to welcome more than 600 charter flights that are scheduled in 2019. Among those charters is the daily charter service from Narita, Japan to Guam by Ken Real Estate and Korean Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Jeju Air. The daily charters, which operate on a Boeing 737-800 began service on October 28, 2018, and will last for one year with the option to extend.

“Japan’s recovery is very important to developing and sustaining a healthy tourism industry,” said GVB President and CEO Nathan Denight. “We’re constantly in dialogue with our travel agents and airline to increase airline seats, while working with our local partners. Our efforts are far from over and we continue to press forward with our visitor growth and diversification goals.”

New quarterly visitor profile report introduced

With October kicking off the start of a new fiscal year, GVB’s Research Department is proud to introduce its new Quarterly Visitor Profile report that will be incorporated into its monthly arrival summaries after the end of each quarter of FY2019.

The Quarterly Visitor Profile report gives a more comprehensive look into visitor trends and spending behaviors within Guam’s major source markets. The new report pulls data from GVB’s exit surveys that can be found on the GVB corporate website at guamvisitorsbureau.com.

This inaugural report focuses on aggregate data from Fiscal Year 2018 compared with the previous fiscal year. Based on the report, total visitor expenditures went up 4.5% with a weighted average total spend of $1,282.98 per person.

In addition, on-island expenditures per person grew 2.6% in FY18 with a weighted average on-island spend of $428.69.

Further insight shows the average length of stay grew significantly with a 39.8% increase, with Korea showing the most dramatic change from 3.68 days to 6.14 days nearly doubling their time on Guam.

Media Contact: JOSH TYQUIENGCO - Public Information Officer