Gyam's Big Summer Festival is on and the Asian market is set to be a major catch for the country's tourism industry.
Visitors from Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea are prime targets, on top of the already robust Japanese market.
"We may not see a drastic surge in numbers but we see the effects of the Asian crisis being mitigated this year. We are already seeing some increase in business from Taiwan and Korea," Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association president David Tydingco told TravelNews Asia.
Year-to-date arrivals in April dropped by 11 per cent to 358,853 compared to the previous year.
For the period between January to May this year, total arrivals from Korea more than doubled to 13,003 from 6,163 over the same period last year. For the same period, arrivals from Taiwan reached 15,801, 86 per cent of 1998's January-to-May arrivals.
Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) South Korea representative Hyun-Jung Park attributed this growth to the Korean economy's path to recovery, Asiana's resumption of direct services to Guam from April 1999 and increased air capacity, the rebound in the outbound honeymooners market from late autumn and the general rise of consumer spending.
Hong Kong arrivals grew slowly for the same period from 3,235 to 3,481.
Tydingco noted a 14 per cent drop in Japanese arrivals from January to May this year to 373,684 from last year's 434,591. "Japan is still our largest market, even as growth has steadied."
"In Japan, we are still after young office ladies and the leisure market," GVB public relations officer Leigh Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said that as a result of the Asian economic crisis, many locals employed in hotels were laid off, pushing up Guam's unemployment rate.
"You must remember, 60 per cent of Guam's income is from the tourism industry," Tydingco said. "Visitors from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea were wiped out after the economic crisis in late 1997. But they are coming back and staying for four nights, five days. And they are now coming not only during summer vacations but all year round."
The total number of hotel rooms has grown from 6,233 in May 1995 to 7,625 in May 1999. Over a thousand more rooms are set to open this year. In the Tumon Bay area, where a US$52.9 million redevelopment in underway, average occupancy is about 62 per cent.
The hotel scene is no longer dominated by Japanese owners. There are at least three Taiwan-owned hotels in Guam: The Grand Plaza, Sherwood and Guam Plaza Hotels. The Ladera Tower, the Guam ITC hotel and the Seoul Regency hotel are owned by Koreans, sources said.
Onward Beach Resort director and general manager Erol Miftahittin says that honeymooners and families are big among the Korean market.
"We are seeing today a new market mix. Before the inbound market was dominated by Japanese. Koreans, Taiwanese and Hong Kong visitors are now growing," Miftahittin said.
Aside from the opening of entertainment-packed Pleasure Island and Guam Visitors Bureau's (GVB) launch of its Third Big Summer Festival, which runs till September, Tydingco said recent developments initiated by Guam's airport authority and the airline companies have been crucial to the recovery of Guam's tourism industry.
"Airport fees (paid by the airlines) have been slashed from US$16 per person last year to $13 per person now to a little over $10 starting October.
China Airlines (CI) and the Taiwanese-owned Sherwood Hotels have jointly organised airfare-hotel packages, beefing up their Taiwan market.
Gutierrez said the CI-Sherwood tie-up contributed significantly to huge growth recorded in Taiwanese arrivals.
Asiana Airlines (OZ) began flying Korea-Guam direct in February this year, no longer stopping over in Saipan.
OZ is set to fly six times weekly this month and by September 13 it will increase its flights to daily.
Next year it is targetting twice daily flights.
Continental Airlines' (CO) 40 per cent drop on previous prices has brought about a 59 per cent increase in business from Hong Kong. "Prices were not competitive two years ago. With the same amount one person would spend to Guam, two people could fly to Phuket," GVB Hong Kong representative Douglas King said.
King said both Cathay Pacific and Dragonair were not interested in serving the Guam route.
Gutierrez said Guam is planning to set up a convention centre in future. Meanwhile, the GVB is promoting it as a good incentive market with a wide array of facilities and activities.
"There are golf courses, attractions like Pleasure Island and things for everybody to do. In Tinian, visitors can enjoy the casino just as Hong Kong people do [in] Macau," said Gutierrez.