GVB promotes Guam in MITT fair

by Krystal Paco

Guam - Efforts to promote the island to our fastest growing market are going strong with the return of Guam Visitors Bureau general manager Karl Pangelinan from the Moscow International Tourism Trade Fair. Aside from meeting with the country's largest tour agencies, he's communicating with Korean Air to provide smoother connecting flights from Russia to Guam with shorter layovers.

"What we discussed with Korean Air number one is their commitment to the market, their committed from the far east as well as Moscow and St. Petersburg, so we're still sort of scratching the surface with the market from Moscow and St. Petersburg," Pangelinan explained. "We hope to see some good results coming from those markets but really our emphasis is going to be on the Far East."

A little over a year ago Guam received the green light on the Russia visa waiver. Closing out last year, GVB reported over 4,000 Russian visitors. In January alone, GVB reported over 1,000.

Pangelinan says this is largely due to Guam's tax-free shopping and anticipates the market to flourish with more education outreach to Russia.