GUAM. Japanese visitor arrivals are being hit hard by the growing dispute between North Korea and the USA, according to Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB).
In August, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened to fire ballistic missiles into the waters just short of Guam, a US territory with a strong military presence. His war of words with US President Donald Trump has since escalated, culminating in North Korean media saying in recent days that the “US should be tamed with fire” and that tensions now bring its “hand closer to the trigger” on carrying out the launch.
“FY18 is off to a rough start with the North Korea news” – Guam Visitors Bureau President & CEO Nathan Denight
Although the US territory attracted a record 1.56 million visitors (+3.2%) in fiscal year 2017 ended 30 September, Japanese arrivals (Guam’s top inbound nationality) fell sharply.
September was a particularly bad month, with Japanese arrivals falling -32.6% year-on-year.
The decrease in Japanese arrivals continues the pattern of recent years. Some 745,000 Japanese visitors came to Guam in calendar 2016, a fall of -16.6% since 2013.
GVB President & CEO Nathan Denight said that regional tensions had accentuated the decline. “FY18 is off to a rough start with the North Korea news. GVB is working hard with our government and tourism partners to overcome the challenges in our core markets,” he commented.
The updated number of cancellations is now at 7,556, representing an estimated US$9.5 million loss for Guam. The cancellations were made from individuals associated with school groups; package tours; and Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) groups. Most of the cancellations came from Japan school groups that had planned to travel to Guam between September and December.
Task Force created to help struggling markets
Governor Eddie Baza Calvo has assembled a task force made up of officials from GVB, Guam International Airport Authority and Guam Economic Development Authority to address the problem.
Despite what it described as an excellent overall showing for September (the third-best on record), GVB said it had been “working towards and hoping for higher numbers”.
As part of the recovery efforts for the Japanese market, GVB and its industry partners plan to bring in hundreds of travel agents and international media for a “mega-familiarization tour” sometime between November and December “so they can experience how safe Guam really is”.
Aggressive marketing strategies and promotions are also in progress to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first flight from Tokyo to Guam in 1967 that brought 109 travel agents and media to the island, GVB said.
Air service initiatives
A steady decrease in air seat capacity from Japan has been a factor in the decline of Japan visitor arrivals. In response, GVB launched two programmes to address concerns over seating capacity in Japan. The Charter Airline Incentive programme, launched in January 2017, provides support to travel agents or airlines that provide extra charter flights to Guam. This led to a doubling of charter flights to Guam, from 100 in 2016 to over 200 by the end of the year.
In April, GVB launched a second programme to attract additional regular air services. Through this initiative, Guam was able to secure the Nagoya-Guam route with HK Express for October 2017. However, the airline decided to delay the launch until summer 2018 due to the North Korea issue.
Seating capacity to Guam continues to be a concern as United plans to suspend its twice-weekly flights out of Sapporo in January 2018. With Delta ending Tokyo-Guam flight services, fewer seats will be available to the island in 2018, GVB noted. Nearly 1.4 million seats between Japan and Guam were available in 2012, and that number has decreased to less than 900,000 in 2017.
