Guam Delegate on Airline Mission in South Korea

Governor, Airport, and GVB Team Up to Increase Arrivals into Guam.

To support the growth of visitor arrivals to Guam, a high-level airline mission is currently underway in South Korea to expand air seat capacity and strengthen partnerships with leading Korean airlines.

The delegation is led by Governor Leon Guerrero, GVB President Gutierrez, GVB Board Director and Korea Marketing Committee Chairman Ho Eun, GVB Board Director and Chairman of the Japan Marketing Committee Ken Yanagisawa and GIAA Executive Director John Quinata.

This mission is focused on reinforcing ties with major partners, including Jeju Air, Jin Air, Korean Air, and t’way, to offer incentives for additional flights while preserving the existing airline schedule. “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 pre pandemic 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,” stated Airport executive manager John M. Quinata.

In addition to the airline talks, a significant highlight of the Korea mission was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between GVB and Shinhan Card, one of Korea’s largest financial service providers. With approximately 29 million cardholders, 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. “Increasing visitor spend improves the value chain that our visitors and locals have come to enjoy,” noted President Gutierrez. Recent data from Shinhan Card indicates that cardholder spending on Guam tripled in 2024 compared to the same promotional period in 2019.

Additionally, the delegation met with U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip S. 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.

“Overall, our delegation was well received by all our business partners and 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,” stated Governor Leon Guerrero.

SEEN IN MAIN IMAGE:  GVB President & CEO Carl T.C. Gutierrez and Shinhan Card CEO Moon Dong Kwon sign MOU. – image courtesy of GVB

Media Contact:  Lisa Bordallo, Public Information Officer, GUAM VISITORS BUREAU, SETBISION BISITAN GUÅHAN, Tumon, Guam, (671) 979-1523, [email protected]