by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The state of tourism as it stands today and where the Guam Visitors Bureau wants to go tomorrow was the focus of today's Guam Chamber of Commerce meeting. GVB Deputy General Manager Ernie Galito said that traditionally strong markets are not bringing in more tourists, forcing his agency to get more creative.

"Our source markets of Korea and Japan are flattening out, as far as the number of outbound tourists is concerned. So we're going to have to do things differently. We have to attract new market segments and attract new markets in general." GVB, he added, is looking at utilizing sports tourism and targeting special interest groups.

Meanwhile, officials are also looking at the emerging Chinese market. Galito is hopeful charter flights planned from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou for Chinese New Year will draw significant tourists from that country.