By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Guam is seeking to strengthen partnerships with South Korean airlines in a bid to expand the seat capacity for this Asian market.
A Guam delegation headed by Gov. Lou Leon Guererro will meet with Jeju Air, Jin Air, Korean Air and T'way to offer incentives for additional flights while preserving the existing airline schedule, according to Guam Visitors Bureau.
"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 percent of our pre-pandemic numbers from Korea,” said John M. Quinata, executive manager of the Guam International Airport Authority, who is part of the delegation.
“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," Quinata added.
Also joining the mission are Carl Gutierrez, GVB president; Hp Eun, chair of the GVB board’s marketing committee; and Ken Yanagisawa, chair of the board’s Japan marketing committee.
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," Gutierrez said.
GVB cited data from Shinhan Card indicating that cardholder spending on Guam tripled in 2024 compared to the same promotional period in 2019.
The delegation also 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,” the governor said.
“Together we will continue working to increase visitor arrivals and improve their overall experience on Guam," she added.
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