The Guam Tourism Bureau is one of 43 countries participating in the 38th Seoul International Travel Expo held at COEX from May 4th to 7th.
Some 55,000 people attended the show during the four-day event, enjoying a variety of attractions at the Guam Tourism Board (GVB) pavilion, including a cultural performance by the local Chamorro group Guma’ Taitao Tåno’, a performance with the Guam Ko Kiko and Kika pose for a photo of the “ko” bird mascot and interactive social media campaign.
The Guam Pavilion also has a reservation function, visitors can purchase Guam tourism products and win round-trip tickets to Guam through the stamp program. A total of 133 sets of Guam package tickets were sold at the travel fair.
The Guam delegation consisted of the following GVB members: Baldyga Group, Crowne Plaza Guam, Core Tech (Bayview Guam, Dusit Beach Resort Guam, Dusit Thani Guam), Guam Tourism Association (Fisheye Marine Park, Guam Marine ) Park, Hertz Rent A Car, Guam Plaza Resort, Guam Premier Outlet, Valley of the Latte), Hoshino Resort Risonare Guam, PHR (Hilton Guam Resort & Spa, Hotel Nikko Guam, Tsubaki Tower, Righa Royal Laguna Guam Resort) and Guam Skydiving.
“Guam participates in the show every year to directly engage with Korean consumers and show that we are well prepared with our Guam partners for the rapid recovery of the Korean market. As outbound travel gradually increases, I hope Koreans choose to go to Guam Experience the warmth of the Chamorro people and the charm of our island,” said Nadine Leon Guerrero, GVB Global Marketing Director.
Among the 284 companies, organizations and DMOs at the Seoul show, GVB was awarded Best Parade and Best Booth Content.
GVB forms new partnership with Jeju Island
As part of the Korean delegation, GVB signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Jeju Tourism Organization to pave the way for more sustainable tourism in the Korean market.
The Jeju Island Tourism Bureau is a government-invested company established in 2008 with the aim of making Jeju Island a competitive destination in the domestic and global tourism markets. The signing of the MoU took place on Thursday, May 4th at the InterContinental Parnas Grand Hotel in Seoul, South Korea. The GVB delegation was led by Ho Sang Eun, Chairman of the Korea Marketing Committee, and the Jeju Tourism Board members were led by President and CEO Eun Sook Koh.
Under the MOU, the two organizations plan to establish a strategic partnership and promote cooperation mechanisms to promote the development of Guam and Jeju Island. Future marketing projects will focus on ESG (environmental, social, governance) activities as well as sustainable tourism content production, highlighting the safety of both destinations.
“As we continue our efforts to revive the tourism industry, GVB’s mission in Korea is to expand our source market and develop our resources,” said Eun, chairman of GVB’s Korea Marketing Committee. “In this regard, we are very pleased to be able to build a bridge with the Jeju Tourism Bureau, which will lead us to actively participate in the fields of tourism, culture and business. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with Jeju Island and working together to achieve mutual prosperity.”
Visible in the main image: Top row (left): Myounghoon Lim, Travel Trade Manager, GVB Korea; Michael Arroyo, Assistant Network and IT Coordinator, GVB; Dana QC Kim, Gumataotano Cultural Performer; Soljin Park, Assistant Sales & Marketing Manager, GVB Korea; Saehyun Park, Sales and Marketing Coordinator, GVB Korea; Myung Hie Soun, CEO, Media & Communications, Nextpaper; Dee Hernandez, Director, Destination Development, GVB; Nicole B. Benavente, Marketing Manager, GVB Korea; Margaret Sablan, Marketing Manager, GVB Korea; Jihoon Park, Regional Manager, GVB Korea; Vincent San Nicolas, Cultural Performer, Guma’ Taitao Tåno.Bottom Row (LR): JD Cruz Kim; Ashley Nicole Johnson; Vivian Ammon; and Jayvier Quenga, all Guma’ Taitao Tåno’ cultural performers
Linda Hohenholz has been writing and editing articles since the beginning of her career. She has channeled that innate passion to places like Hawaii Pacific University, Chaminade University, the Children’s Discovery Center of Hawaii, and now Travel News Corp.
