FY2016 IMPACT STATEMENT
Agency: GUAM VISITORS BUREAU
Division/Program:
MARKETING / HONG KONG
SUMMARY
Our mission is to Identify cost effective marketing opportunities in Hong Kong to aggressively promote travel to our
island destination by enhancing and strengthening the positive image of Guam as a safe and friendly premiere resort
travel destination with a variety of activities for families, wedding and honeymoon couples, and sports enthusiasts.
For FY2016, set goal is to increase number of visitors from Hong Kong to Guam to 9,000 pax.
Hong Kong Market has been growing slowly in the past few years. Wedding market is still one of our biggest target
segments with bigger group sizes. According to leading wedding portal, EDSLife.com, the market is being more
competitive since there is a huge amount of Wedding budgets($4.3 billion/ year in 2013) allocated to overseas
photography, ceremony and honeymoon.
Average Spending of Key Overseas Wedding Items
Source : ESDLife.com
For the past two years, many travel agents originally focusing on FIT/group travel have been involving overseas
wedding and the competition among them is keen. In addition to traditional competitors such as Bali and Thailand.
Japan became our major competitor with aggressive marketing funding they spent and low-cost carriers came into
service. Among different regions in Japan, Okinawa tourism last year had been largely benefited from the
depreciation of Yen again and showed tremendous growth. Due to our continuous effort for the past few years,
USA (mainly Guam and Hawaii) still has the largest market share on overseas wedding according to ESDlife.com’s
statistic. In FY 2016, we will allocate more marketing resources to strengthen our leading position in the wedding
market and explore more joint-promotion opportunities with wedding service companies in Hong Kong. Besides, we
will take initiative to explore joint-promotion opportunities with chapels in Guam and hopefully could create more
awareness for Guam’s wedding market.
Source : ESDlife.com
FIT is our 2nd largest target segment. With nearly 50% visitors coming from 20-29 year old, we will work closely
with travel agencies to develop suitable products for this group of visitors such as adventure, romantic and maybe
some sports events. Last year, we put focus to promote more adventure activities such as Intro Flight, Zip Guam,
etc. This year, we will focus on romantic destination for young couples (in line with wedding theme), more
adventure options such as ocean fishing, boonie stomp and gourmet while promoting more sports and adventure
activities.
Study market is huge and we have been working with UOG to promote their short-term learning program such as
sports camp and English adventure program. However, the result is not satisfied due to costly ground transportation
and lack of cheap accommodation facilities. This year, we will try to line-up more partners e.g. education bureau
and local summer camp organizers to promote this market.
As Guam will be the official host of the 12th Festival of the Pacific Arts in 2016, GVBHK will allocate more
resources to promote this event and Chamorro traditions and culture. The Festival of Pacific Arts (FestPac) is the
premier arts and culture event in the Pacific region. It has been held every four years since 1972 and expects to bring
more than 2000 artists and cultural practitioners to Guam. We believe with right promotional campaign, we could
generate high level of awareness and hopefully bring more visitors to Guam to join this event.
In FY2016, GVB Hong Kong will work closely with airlines and travel agents directly to promote Guam via jointpromotion and incentive programs. We and United Airlines both feel frustrated with the performance of newly
appointed UA GSA for the past year. Travel agents are not getting support from them to promote Guam. Therefore,
we will do more joint-promotions with travel agencies directly and raise their interests to promote Guam. Incentive
programs will be developed to entice them to re-fo
MARKET OVERVIEW
A. FLIGHT SERVICES TO GUAM




United Airlines
China Airlines
Eva Airlines
Philippines Airlines
B. AIRLINE FLIGHT SCHEDULES
Carrier
From
To
Flight No.
Depart
Arrive
Frequency
United Airlines
HKG
GUM
UA116
22:30
05:50 +1
Every Mon, Fri, Wed,
Sat
GUM
HKG
UA159
18:50
21:55
Every Mon, Wed, Fri &
Sat
HKG
Narita
UA7988
10:00
15:00
Daily
Narita
GUM
UA197
17:20
22:10
Daily
HKG
TPE
CI 920
20:10
21:50
Every Tue & Sat
TPE
GUM
CI 026
23:10
05:05
GUM
TPE
CI 025
06:35
08:25
TPE
HKG
CI 605
10:00
11:45
HKG
TPE
BR20
19:25
21:05
TPE
GUM
BR20
22:45
04:40
GUM
TPE
BR19
06:10
08:05
TPE
HKG
BR19
10:20
12:00
HKG
MNL
PR307
18:00
20:00
MNL
GUM
PR110
22:15
0400+1
GUM
MNL
PR111
06:00
07:50
MNL
HKG
PR318
10:00
12:15
China Airlines
EVA Airline
Philippines
Airlines
C. AIRLINE ROUTE MAPS
United Airlines
Every Wed & Sun
Every Tue, Sat
Every Wed, Sun
Every Mon, Wed, Fri,
Sat & Sun only.
China Airlines
EVA Airlines
Philippines Airlines
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
Hong Kong has a free market economy. It is highly dependent on international trade and finance - the value of goods
and services trade (sizable share of re-exports included) is about four times its GDP. With a central location in east
Asia and the rapidly growing Mainland China as its hinterland, Hong Kong is an international business, trade and
financial hub. Building on its traditional free market economic policy, Hong Kong has developed into a modern,
vibrant and cosmopolitan services economy, underpinning the role of the city as a global business platform.
According to “Tourism Flows Outbound in Hong Kong, China” from Euromonitor International, Hong Kong
residents continued to show their interest in the Asia region. The rapid development of low cost carriers led to more
affordable options to travel out of the city, encouraging higher numbers of short haul trips. Outbound travel flows
over the forecast period is predicted to post a positive volume CAGR of 2%, reaching 41 million trips by 2018.
Leisure travel is a growing lifestyle trend that many local residents pursue. Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia are
likely to be the popular destinations due to the LCC growth in the region. Long haul travel will continue to see mild
increase in destinations such as US and Australia.
Hong Kong Outbound Tourism Data
2012
2013
Total Departures by residents (million)
85.3
86 (est.)
Departures for the U.S. (‘000)
133.1
122.1
International Tourism Expenditure of residents
20.5
21.9
(US$ billion)
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
2014
(est.)
86.8
121.3
22.8
2015 (est.)
87.6
120.6
23.6
MARKET DEMOGRAPHICS
Population:
7,122,508 (July 2011 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
15-64 years:
65 years and over:
Median age:
total: 43.4 years
male: 42.8 years
female: 43.8 years (2011 est.)
Population growth rate:
Ethnic groups:
Religions:
11.6% (male 431,728/female 394,898)
74.8% (male 2,573,929/female 2,757,095)
13.5% (male 452,278/female 512,580) (2011 est.)
0.448% (2011 est.)
Chinese 95%, Filipino 1.6%, Indonesian 1.3%, other 2.1%
(2006 census)
Eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
Languages:
Cantonese 90.8% (official), English 2.8% (official), Putonghua (Mandarin) 0.9%, other Chinese
dialects 4.4%, other 1.1% (2006 census)
MARKET NEEDS
Hong Kong is well-known for its concrete jungle and its fast pace. The packed living environment, the air quality,
the crowded streets all contribute to the city’s flourishing tourism business. In a city with more than adequate
skyscrapers and less than enough open spaces; tourists from Hong Kong long relaxation in an island setting. Thus
island destination has always been one of the most popular destinations for Hong Kong people.
Hong Kong ranked as the 4th largest outbound market in Asia and 14th in the world in terms of international
tourism expenditure, according to UNWTO. There are four major reasons behind this phenomenon: (1) Hong Kong
is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with an overall density of 6,620 people per square
kilometer. Since there is also a general lack of local recreational options, Hong Kong citizens often choose to spend
their holidays outside of Hong Kong; (2) Hong Kong people have high spending power. Hong Kong’s GPD per
capita ranked the 3rd highest in Asia; (3) Hong Kong’s geographical location and excellent transportation
infrastructure allow for relatively easy travel abroad; and (4) Most people in Hong Kong speak English and hold the
Special Administrative Region (SAR) passport, which does not require visas to visit over 140 countries and regions
in the world. Due to these factors, the number of Hong Kong citizens traveling around the region and abroad for
business and pleasure continues to rise. However, according to BMI’s outbound tourism data, many of those
departures (96.5 percent) are for mainland China, Macau and other nearby Asian destinations. Therefore, within
Hong Kong alone, there lies good potential for promoting U.S. tourism.
Hong Kong citizens tend to travel during public holidays such as Chinese Lunar New Year, Easter and Christmas
because an average worker only has 10-14 days of annual leave. The traveling seasons usually occur around these
public holidays as well as the summer holidays. The summer months of June, July and August on average account
for 30 percent of Hong Kong outbound travelers to the United States.
When choosing vacation destination, Hong Kong residents take several factors into considerations such as air
tickets, accommodation, travel time and variety of activities offered by the destinations. According to a survey
conducted by Euromonitor International in 2012, the most popular island destinations are Phuket, Bali, Kota
Kinabalu, and Maldives because of their premium resorts (villas / water bungalows) and short flight time. Because
of competitive depreciation of Yen and largely increased marketing funds, Okinawa has also become one of our
keenest competitors.
Accommodation is the most important factor for island destinations, followed by cost, safety and attractions. Some
Hong Kong people are even willing to pay more than USD 1,000 per night for a nice villa. Besides island
destinations, gastronomy tour to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Europe; shopping tour to Japan, Korea, and Italy; and family
& kids tour to Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Okinawa are also popular among Hong Kong citizens.
MARKET TRENDS
Leisure, sightseeing and shopping are key purposes, followed by cultural tourism and relaxation. FIT has gained its
popularity in recent years and over 70% of travelers to Asia destinations like Thailand, Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea
etc prefer to travel in FIT packages. Top 5 outbound destinations from Hong Kong in 2012 are China, Macau,
Taiwan, Japan and Thailand. However, since there is new direct flight from Hong Kong to DaNang (Vietnam),
Myanmar and Maldives, they will attract tourist for 1st time visit. Also, due to the K-Pop culture and the decrease of
the Japanese Yen Exchange Rate, more people would like to travel to Korea and Japan. Taking Korea as example,
cultural interest in Korea has helped the Hong Kong-Seoul route grow 65% since 2012, pushing the route from
being Asia's 13th largest based on international seats to ninth largest.
Online Booking is Getting Popular
The travel distribution system in Hong Kong remains relatively traditional, with most consumers choosing to book
through the extensive branch office networks of retail agencies. Online bookings are becoming increasingly
important, with major retail agencies investing in online bookings platforms. Online Travel Agencies active in the
market are Priceline and Zuji Travel, who sell airfares and packages with airfares and accommodation. They work
with global distributors, hotel partners and Inbound Tour Operators (ITOs).
Low-cost Carriers Impact the Market
Low-cost carriers account for 5 per cent of the aviation market in Hong Kong but provide nearly 20 per cent of seats
in Asia overall. Some critics attribute slower passenger growth at Chek Lap Kok airport to the low penetration by
low-cost carriers. The average yearly growth in passenger numbers in Hong Kong was 3.7 per cent from 2008 to
2011, against 7.3 per cent in Singapore and 11 per cent in Kuala Lumpur.
MARKET GROWTH
Since the resume of direct flight in Mar 2010 and the implementation of visa waiver program in Nov 2009, arrival
from Hong Kong to Guam has experienced steady growth from FY2010 to FY 2013. However, the total arrival
dropped 3.7% in FY2013 due to keen competition of other destinations and depreciation of Asia currencies.
According to ITB World Travelers Trend Report, the strong growth of international travel by people in emerging
economies around the world was once again the dominant element of regional travel trends in 2013. Regions such as
Asia, the Middle East and Latin America grew strongly, driven by the growth of first-time travellers from the new
middle class in countries such as China and Brazil.
The ’new Asian tourist’ is well-educated, well-informed, better-off and younger than in the past. This means they
are more demanding in terms of quality and service, and are interested in more individual, adventurous and creative
travel experiences. Guam could respond to this trend by diversifying our tourism offers and introducing more
’theme-based’ tours.
Source : ITB WORLD TRAVEL TRENDS REPORT 2013/2014
Hong Kong Outbound Visitation to the following Countries:
Long haul destinations
2011
2012
2013
Australia & New Zealand
191797
202972
223080
UK
148582
135000
170100
Canada
126752
123916
133453
USA
128512
133104
122134
Source : US Commercial Service. For Hong Kong travelers to USA, year-to-date figure for October 2014 is
105,676. It is -1.5% year-to-date % change.
Due to the great currency depreciation in Asian markets, travel market became more competitive. We expect US
dollar to be further strengthened with the recovery of US economy. Sharp depreciation has been observed in Asian
currencies since 2014; hence, Guam becomes an expensive destination when compared to our key competitors in the
region. If we aim for aggressive growth, we might need to allocate more marketing funds in increasing exposure and
developing incentive programs with travel agencies.
CONDITIONS IN THE MARKETPLACE
STRENGTHS
 Visa free
 Direct flights
 Nuclear waste (pollution) free
 Beautiful chapels with worldwide recognized wedding certificate
 Safe & politically stable
 Rich with historical and cultural background
 Unpolluted water, beaches and air
 Year-round mild climate
 Beautiful landscape
 4 direct flights a week (compare to 2)
 Rich culture
WEAKNESSES
 No new hotels and attractions development
 More expensive than other South East Asian Cities
 Limited activities
 Expensive
 Aging resort
 No food variety
 Still no daily flights
OPPORTUNITIES
 Still strong in wedding, can further promote
 Can develop new segment (MICE and education)
 New attractions and convention center coming up
THREATS
 Low-cost carriers to Okinawa & other South East Asian Cities
 Seat block policy of United Airlines to compete with visitors from China
 Further currencies depreciation of competing destinations
 No many new attractions in Guam to attract repeated travelers
 Tsunami / earthquake
COMPETITION (S: Similarities; D: Differences; M: Market Segments)
1. Saipan
S:
D:
M:
2. Thailand
S:
D:
M:
Geographical proximity, nature, weather, culture, people
Parole status, direct flight, cheaper packages
Honeymooners, weekend getaway, pleasure & family vacationers
Island destination, weather, nature, accessibility,
Competitiveness in package price for travel agents as well as local price for tourists, rich historical
and cultural remains and attractions, more variety in products, world renowned resort destination,
lower local price, non-positive image by public hygiene
Honeymooners, pleasure tourists, incentive groups
3. Singapore
S: Weather, English speaking destination, shopping, kid friendly accessibility
D: Positive image and world renowned cleanliness, many new attractions, excellent shopping program
M: Pleasure tourists, honeymooners, families
4. Malaysia (KK island)
S: Weather, nature, island destination
D: Lower resort destination profile, unstable economic and social image, cheap
M: Honeymooners, pleasure tourists, families
5. Australia
S: Accessibility, vast natural resource, English speaking destination
D: More variety in products and offerings, world renowned resort destination, longer flight time, many
tourist attraction
M: Pleasure tourists, honeymooners, and students for English programs
6. New Zealand
S: Visa free, nature, Accessibility, English-speaking destination
D: More variety in products and offerings, a very positive country image, longer flight time, weak
New Zealand dollars
M: Pleasure tourists, honeymooners
7. Korea
S:
D:
M:
Accessibility, close geographical location, shopping, visa free
Lots of direct flights per day, cheap
Pleasure tourists, families
S:
D:
M:
Island destination, accessibility, close geographical location, visa free, nice chapels
Lots of direct flights per day, super nice resorts / villas,
Couples, families, honeymooners
8. Bali
9. Okinawa
S:
D:
M:
Sunshine and beaches, accessibility, close geographical location, visa free, great chapel for
weddings, similar hotel accommodation
Lots of direct flights per day, great food (HK people love Japanese food), hot & cold seasons
Couples, families, honeymooners
MARKETING STRATEGY
We have observed few trends emerging from the Asia Pacific region which are likely to shape travel, travelers’
behaviour and how providers react in the next few years.
Me Effect
Due to the “Me Effect”, the market will fragment into more and more niches, smaller groups and individual
travellers, moving away from the large, organised groups that have dominated travel in the region in the past.
Online Booking
The study from Amadeus shows that 40% of business travellers and 25% of leisure travellers now routinely use
these devices for travel-related arrangements and bookings in Asia.
Low Cost Carriers
The LCC (Low Cost Carriers) sector in Asia is experiencing strong growth with massive potential demand
supported by fast-growing economies and rising demand for intra-regional travel. Although low-cost air travel
originated in Europe and North America to connect destinations typically within four hours’ flying time, Asian
LCCs are adapting the model for locations up to eight hours apart. This enables cost-conscious Asian travellers to
fly to new destinations for which flights were either previously unavailable or were priced too high.
More Marriage Couples Look for Overseas Wedding
According to the census, the number of marriages in Hong Kong was recently reported with more than 60,000,
which has already been increasing steadily for a decade (Hong Kong Census and Statistic Department 2013). A
recent survey by Expedia Hong Kong finds that 80 percent of couples would rather host their dream wedding
overseas than in Hong Kong. According to Expedia’s survey, over half of the 300 participants said that destination
weddings offer a unique experience that cannot be found in Hong Kong. They felt that Hong Kong just can’t offer
the stunning views that other countries can. Seventy-seven percent of the participants indicated that having beautiful
sights is the most important reason to hold weddings overseas, followed by the price (43 percent), and being married
in a “beautiful church” (31 percent).
GVB Hong Kong has been prepared to respond to this rapidly evolving situation by adapting quickly and
strategically marketing strategic plan. The following are what we suggest to do to react to these trends.

Enrich and increase content for travel consumers (especially FIT travelers)

Expand and deepen our content distribution channels with special focus on social media platforms such as
Facebook and YouTube

Improve the effectiveness of marketing activities and information distribution, through the development and use
of technology;

Implement marketing programs across diverse major market areas to stimulate visitor arrivals and expenditures.

Strengthen our business relationships with travel agents (especially online travel agents such as Priceline and
ZUJI)

Strengthen wedding market and aim for large group visitors

Work closely with United Airlines to offer discounted tickets against other competing destinations with LLCs.

Work with travel agents who are focusing on MICE and high-end customers to attract more visitors to visit
Guam.

Coordinate all marketing activities with the private sector, primarily through the established industry
associations and organizations.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY
Statistics have shown that social media is fast gaining popularity within the netizens. The market share of Facebook
surged significantly over the past year and become top social media channel in Hong Kong with more than 50%
reach. A TNS survey found that 4.4 million people in Hong Kong use Facebook, which is more than 50 percent of
the population. Of those surveyed, 44 percent said Facebook was their first point of contact when reading breaking
news. Besides Facebook, YouTube has become the second biggest search engine as online video is quickly
becoming a key means for people to satisfy their information and entertainment needs. Various studies show more
than half of companies are already making use of the medium. Nielsen even claims 64% of marketers expect video
to dominate their strategies in the near future.
Hong Kong netizens remain comfortable with using social media as a way to maintain relationships as opposed to
creating them. According to the research from Digital Index: Travel and Tourism Study, the finding showed that
44% of APAC travellers use social media to help inform their decision of destination, compared with only 14% in
EMEA and 18% in the USA.
Rather than allow campaigns to be driven by paid media, GVBHK realized that we must now develop scale and
expertise in owned and earned media to drive effectiveness, cultivate creative ideas, assess customer needs, cultivate
influencers, develop reach, achieve authenticity and cut through clutter. GVB Hong Kong fully realizes video's
potential and established our own YouTube channel. We have been implementing different marketing programs
(first Guam’s mini movie and music video) and creating localized content to engage with our fans. So far,
GVBHK’s official channel recorded over 300,000 viewership and with over 1600 subscribers. In FY2016, we will
allocate more resources to promote the channel and make it easy for users to find and share it.
A large part of creating a great story and engaging social media posts is having great content. GVBHK realized that
and we will continue to create useful, relevant content that our audience wants to see, share and interact with.
Furthermore, we will also actively engage with bloggers and KOLs to increase Guam’s online exposure.
MARKET INFORMATION
Major official public and school holiday
Jan 1
New Year's Day
Feb 8
Chinese Lunar New Year's Day
Feb 9
Second day of Chinese Lunar New Year
Feb 10 Third day of Chinese Lunar New Year
Mar 27
Easter Sunday
Mar 28
Easter Monday
Apr 4
Ching Ming Festival
May 1
Labour Day
May 2
Labour Day observed
May 14
Buddha's Birthday
Jun 9
Dragon Boat Festival
Jul 1
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day
Sep 16
Day after Mid-Autumn Festival
Oct 1
National Day of the People's Republic of China
Oct 10
Chung Yeung Festival
Dec 25
Christmas Day
Dec 26
Boxing Day
SMART Goals
1.
Increase arrivals via joint promotion with travel agents and airlines especially during Guam’s low seasons and
FestPac 2016
•
More joint-promotions and training workshops with travel agents to promote Guam. We target to have at
least 6 seminars/workshops for travel agents and the general public
•
Work with airlines especially United Airlines to promote Guam and offer incentive during low seasons.
•
Develop incentive programs for TAs to boost the sales during low seasons and FestPac 2016. We target
to increase the sales of Top 5 travel agents by 6% and to attract at least 250 pax coming to Guam to visit
FestPac 2016 (about 10% increase YTY)
•
Develop at least 2-3 joint-promotion campaigns per quarter with specific themes such as Wedding
Guam, Romantic Guam, Paradise Island Guam, Sports Guam, Study in Guam, Weekend Get-away
Guam and Shopping in Guam. To have at least 8 joint promotions in FY2016.
•
Host two gathering events for travel agents per year to keep them updated about Guam’s development
2. Increase Guam’s awareness and visibility both online & offline
•
Look for opportunity to work with TV stations for TV episode shooting. We target to have at least 1 TV
show with celebrities to promote Guam
•
More social media campaigns and advertisement to increase Guam’s online influence. We aim to
Increase GVBHK Facebook fans from 22,000 fans to 26,000 and to have at least 6 promotions involving
social media
•
Organize more FAM tours to increase Guam’s awareness and promote different travel products. We will
develop FAM tours with different themes and offerings and target different media. For FY2016, we will
organize at least 3 media FAM tours and 1 travel FAM tour
•
Incorporate more social media platforms to promote Guam e.g. Instagram.
3.
•
Actively seek for joint advertisement opportunities (print media) with travel agents and incorporate
advertising campaigns for TAs’ sales programs.
•
Participate at ITE to engage with general public and seek opportunities for further sales activities.
Strengthen wedding market
•
Initiate more joint promotions to promote Guam’s wedding and target to have at least 1 group wedding
to generate the awareness
•
Among joint-promotion campaigns, at least 2 campaigns to work with wedding planners/TA who focus
on Guam’s wedding
•
Explore more wedding planners who are interested on Guam. We target to recruit 2-3 new wedding
planners to promote Guam’s wedding.
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Growth Priorities:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Niche Travel:
1)
2)
3)
Weddings and honeymoon
FIT travelers
MICE/Corporate
Luxury Travlers
Education Market (overseas school trip)
Golfers and divers
Sport Lovers (e.g. Marathon, fishing, boonie stomp)
Adventure

To organize a group wedding in Guam

To work with airlines on joint ads placement

To work with TV station for TV episode shootings

To work with singers / models on MTV / photography shootings

Create more online and social media campaigns

To organize media tour, agency tour, and bloggers tour

To have joint promotions with shopping malls, kids brands, luxury
brands, credit cards, and media to further boost awareness

To have 2-3 “wow” public campaigns to drive visibility

Share local fiesta on GVB HK website
As Guam is the nearest U.S. destination, we see opportunities for schools to organizer overseas exchange program
for their students
MARKET SEGMENTS
Sports &
Adventure
FIT &
Young
Couples
Study/
Education
Wedding
TARGET MARKETS
1. Wedding and Honeymooners: Overseas weddings have gained its popularity in the past few years and Guam has
been recognized as one of the hottest wedding destinations together with Bali, Phuket, and Okinawa. Guam has its
advantage over competitors for its worldwide-recognized marriage certificate, wedding ceremony with or without
religion and available attractions for guests. However, due to competitive depreciation of Yen and largely increased
marketing fund, Okinawa has gained significant market share over Guam in wedding market. We need to pour more
resources and strengthen our market share.
2. FIT Travelers: Over 50% of outbound travel is FIT. With its close proximity and more flight schedule selection,
Guam is a great weekend getaway for families, couples and friends.

Young Families: Family travel is very crucial in the Chinese custom and Guam is a safe destination with
attractions for everyone in the families. Shopping for moms, water activities for kids, shows for everyone
and golf for dads etc.

Golfers: As there is only one public golf course in Hong Kong, many golfers go overseas for Golf. Most
popular places will be China and Thailand. However, most golf courses in China and Thailand are inland
with no ocean view. Thus, Guam has the cutting edge of ocean-front golf courses. However, the cost of
golfing in Guam is relatively high compared to Hong Kong and other Asian markets.

Divers: Guam is a perfect dive destination for open water certification due to its calm water current, good
visibility and year-round warm weather. Travelers can take the open watercourse in Hong Kong and finish
off with an ocean dive in Guam for actual certification.
3.

Sports enthusiasts: From Guam 2015 event calendar, we see more sports events happening in Guam such as
Marianas Cup, Beach Volleyball Festival, Smokin’ Wheels Racing Weekend, Cocos Crossing, Guam
National Body Building & Fitness Championships, Guam International Marathon and Guam Ko'ko’ Half
Marathon & Ekiden Relay. We believe with right promotion tactic, we could attract more sports enthusiasts
visiting Guam.

Marathon runners: It’s getting more and more people engaged in runner activities in Hong Kong. If face,
Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has become one of signature sport events that attracted 73,000
participants. We have started promoting GIM since 2014 and observed very positive feedback from our
partners. We believe we could allocate more resources to grow this market.
Education & MICE

MICE: With more flight options to Guam and newly opened convention center, Guam can become a
popular MICE destination due to its proximity, English speaking destination, safe environment and worldclass facilities. Meanwhile, we will need to work out incentive plan for these MICE organizers to
encourage their clients to choose Guam as their conference/meeting destination.

Education: Short-term English learning course is very popular in Hong Kong and many people go to
Australia and UK for such courses. Without such long-haul traveling, Guam is an ideal place to learn
perfect American English without being far away from family. However, local transportation and
accommodation are two key obstacles prohibiting parents to send their children to Guam for summer camp.
The cost for them to arrange local transportation is far too expensive comparing with the cost of the course
and other expenses.
Young
Couples
Sports &
Adventure
Wedding &
Honeymoon
POSITIONING STATEMENT
Wedding
Market
Education
Key positioning of Guam in Hong Kong:
- Close proximity
- Safe and clean air, great for families
- Clean and calm beach suitable for young kids
- Beautiful chapels with world recognized marriage certificate
- Flexible religious arrangement for chapel service
- Shopping paradise
Specific positioning for each market segment as follows:
Wedding / Honeymoon in Guam: Wedding / Romantic vacation
Wedding in foreign countries is becoming more and more popular for Hong Kong people who are chasing quality of
life, wedding ceremony in Hong Kong is not romantic enough and each couple only have 15 minutes for wedding
registration. So having a reception and wedding ceremony in other countries are becoming more attractive in Hong
Kong.
Statistics on Marriage Registration in Hong Kong shows that the wedding rate has been increasing in the past few
years. More marriageable couples are likely to get married in the future. At the same time, with the change of
custom and lifestyle, young couples are looking for modern, special and romantic wedding apart from traditional
marriage style in Hong Kong.
The brilliant chapels with fabulous sea view and spacious area in Guam would definitely impress wedding couples.
We would highly promote in this area to increase the number of visitors to Guam.
Honeymoon
Since 2000, it’s a trend to have a honeymoon in “resort-type” destinations like Phuket, Bali and Maldives. With the
fantastic resources in Guam, GVB will keep focusing on promoting Guam as a distinctive honeymoon destination.
Positioning:
- Beautiful Chapels with sea view
- Convenient one-stop wedding planning service including chapel ceremony, legal Marriage Certificate,
gown, tuxedo, hair, makeup and photo shooting services
- Not expensive. Package price for wedding is reasonable and affordable by many young couples.
- Romantic and quality resort hotels
Leisure & Families (General Market)
Guam is a very distinctive state in the U.S. It consists of Spanish and American cultures but located in the Pacific
Ocean. We should correct the people who try to compare this island with other Asia countries. Moreover, we should
focus on promoting Guam not just to provide activities that other Asia countries can offer, but also an English
speaking country, convenient, small but with low population density.
Positions:
- Easily accessible
- Tropical weather all the year round
- Quality resort and hotel
- Safe and clean
- Various activities like scuba diving, water sports, spa and golf
- Local transportation is convenient
- English speaking country
PR & SM Support:
- Spread activities suitable for families via Facebook & online seeding
- Suggestion on itinerary to Guam for family in GVB HK new website
- Joint advertising with TA for the leisure & family market
Office Ladies
Guam is a safe place for group of girls to travel together for a weekend getaway. Ladies can enjoy not only the
beach and sunshine that Guam could offer, but also the unlimited shopping, eating and fun like spa treatment and
water sport activities.
Positions:
- Safe destination for girls
- Great shopping
- Easily accessible
- Tropical weather all the year round
- Quality resort and hotel
- Various activities for ladies
- Local Transportation is convenient
- English Speaking country
PR & SM Support:
- Joint promotion with woman magazines, website or forum
- Joint advertising with women’s forum to spread more activities that suitable for ladies
Golf lovers
In recent years, more and more Chinese people like playing golf. Many people will travel to Asian countries such as
Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia for golfing. Although the price in Asian countries are generally cheaper,
golfing in the world’s top golf course in Guam will give golfers another experience that is worthy. We will focus on
promoting Guam as a well-known golf place in Asia and a place that golf lovers must go.
World’s top golf courses
- Other activities for men too
- Tropical weather all the year round
- Quality resort and hotel
- U.S. resort destination
- Safe
- Other activities like water sports and spa for their companions
Divers
Overseas diving is getting more and more popular as Hong Kong underwater environment and water quality is not
good enough for diving. Thus many dive lovers would go for the hot diving locations in Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, Palau, and Philippine, etc.
Positions:
- Great for open water divers and certifying
- Easily accessible
- Tropical weather all the year round
- Quality resort and hotel
- Calm water current
- Local transportation is convenient
- English speaking country
- Many special diving attractions such as WWI & II shipwrecks
MICE market
Guam is a very safe place to host MICE events with many available facilities good for small group incentives.
Positions:
- Easily accessible
- More airlines going to Guam
- Tropical weather all the year round
- Quality resort and hotel
- U.S. resort destination
- Safe and clean
- Various facilities for MICE meetings
- Local Transportation is convenient
-
English Speaking country
MARKETING PROGRAMS AND PROMOTIONS
1.
Industry Trade Promotions
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2.
U.S. Commercial Services Programs and Activities
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3.
Participate in ITE in June 2016 with TAs to promote Guam’s packages.
Cultural Presentation and Miss Guam Talent Needed
Cooperate with travel agents to do more joint promotions and online group buying promotion
Organize Guam product seminar at least once a year
Organize fam tours for TAs who specialized in education and MICE.
Organize thematic fam for Shop Guam Festival, gourmet and adventure
Develop at least two incentive programs to stimulate Guam’s arrival figures during low season
Organize industry seminars for Macau market
Participate in trade seminars organized by U.S. Commercial Service to develop new industry partners
Work closely with U.S. Commercial Service to leverage their resources on different sections e.g.
education, travel, investment, etc.
Sales Market Development Opportunities
Wedding / Honeymoon in Guam: Wedding / Romantic vacation
Suggested Promotions:
- Work closely with wedding agents who specialize in Guam for promotions
- Participate in wedding expo and stimulate onsite sales
- Joint promotion with Chapel owners to promote Guam’s wedding chapels
- Support wedding agents by providing marketing materials and manpower to promote Guam
- Provide incentive program for wedding planners/travel agents to flight against other destinations
- Joint promotions with shopping malls
- Joint promotions with jewelry company
- Special Facebook / online promotion on wedding focused theme
- Social media joint promotion and place ad online
Leisure &Young Families (General Market)
Suggested Promotions:
- Joint Promotion with family photo studio
- Joint promotions with popular portal in Hong Kong
- Work closely with travel agents and airlines
- Joint promotion with travel agent on social media campaigns
- Joint promotion/ sponsorship programs with TV programs, MTV, Movie…etc
- Staff special offers to corporations
- ITE participation
- Spread out activities information
Office Ladies
Suggested Promotions:
- Joint promotion with luxury women magazine, like, Elle
- Organize fam for Shop Guam Festival with theme of leisure, shopping and spa to engage with this
group of audience.
- Offer some special discount for outlet shopping, spa or clubbing
- Work closely with ladies focus media for fam tours and special promotions / sponsorship
- Advertisement and joint promotions on ladies website & magazine
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Joint promotions with cosmetics / skincare brands and fashion brands
Work closely with travel agents
Staff special offers to corporations / expats
Golf lovers
Suggested Promotions:
- Invite golf magazines for fam tour
- Line up airline and hotel to offer special discount to selected golf club for promoting golf tour in
Guam
- Line up golf clubs in Hong Kong for golf promotions
- Work with golf specialized travel agents for group golf tournaments
Divers
Suggested Promotions:
- Invite diving agents to Guam
- Joint promotions with dive shops in Hong Kong and Guam
- Work closely with dive specialists in Hong Kong for group diving
- Staff special offers to corporations
- Work with TA on “dive license tour
MICE market
Suggested Promotions:
- Host MICE seminars with target corporation
- Work closely with travel agents who focus on MICE travel
- Organize MICE fam tour for potential audience e.g. MICE organizers and person-in-charge of
large corporations
Luxury market
Suggested Promotions:
- Work closely with travel agents who focus on luxury travel market such as American Express
Centurion team
- Organize MICE fam tour for potential audience
Education market
Suggested Promotions:
- Host seminars for target audience such as travel agents focusing on school exchange market or
school teachers
- Work closely with travel agents who focus on education market
- Organize fam tour for potential audience
Sports/Adventure market
Suggested Promotions:
- Work closely with travel agents who focus on sports and adventure
- Organize fam tour for potential audience
- Joint promotion with other sports brands such as Fitbit, Nike, Mizuro, etc
4. Travel Agents Media Familiarization & Networking
- Product and Training Seminar for TAs
- Fam tour for education and MICE travel agents
5. Marketing Collateral Tools
- More online videos to promote Guam
- Suggest to make a more user-friendly travel guide book
6.
Public Relations
Destination media coverage generated approximately USD $1,338,129 advertising cost in year 2014. Being
the Public relations arm of Guam, GVB Hong Kong has strategic relationships with a network of travel
wholesalers, local represented airlines and travel agents. Enabling Guam’s brand access to front line sales
staff, tactical campaigns via travel partners, brochure involvement, travel trade publications and travel
expos.
Industry Representation Services include:

Industry liaison

Trade Marketing

Market Research

Marketing Intelligence

Event Planning & Hosting

Product Launches
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PCO’s
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Fam Tours Initiation & Coordination
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Social Media Marketing
We will keep strong relations with media to get them updated on Guam info thru monthly press release on
latest update of GVB events in Hong Kong and Guam’s local events.
We will organize the press conference / luncheon to get them know the latest info about Guam.
7.
Advertising
Hong Kong is overwhelmed with advertisements. Unless we have at least USD 10,000 a month or
$100,000 per campaign, readers will not remember and visibility will be minimal. We will explore the
opportunities to sponsor TV stations to produce travel episode for Guam. In this way, we could save ten of
thousands of advertising fee but resulted in good media value. Since budget is limited, most prints
advertising will be a joint ads effort with airlines and travel agents. Instead, more online advertising
promotion with Facebook, Google “Adword” search, Yahoo, etc will be done to create more spiral effort at
cheaper advertising costs.
8.
Social Media/Online Campaigns
Continue to position Guam Facebook as hub of recommendations from fans with special focus on online
video.
- Engage with Facebook users in the region who listed relevant “interests” and “likes” such as
Guam, Wedding, Overseas Wedding, Travel, Vacation, Water Activities, Diving, Golf, Fishing,
etc
- Draw traffic from Facebook to Guam Hong Kong website to explore more information about
Guam
- Make use of LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE features of Facebook to engage users and their
friends
- Engage with fans via social media campaigns and encourage people to post their photos, videos
and travel dairy to Guam Facebook
- Line-up famous bloggers and celebrities from different categories and invite them to go Guam and
take video to viral online.
- Study the possibility to setup Instagram account and related investment
More User-Generated Content and Ad Reach:
•
Famous bloggers ( we did previously + new )
•
People who have visited Guam for different purposes ( source interesting travel dairies
online and ask their permission to post at Guam Facebook page + campaign)
• Engage with influencers on different Guam’s events e.g. SGF, BBQ Block party, Guam
Live Music Festival, GMIF and entice them to share about Guam
•
•
•
Promotion via social media (Ads & Campaigns)  interact with them at Facebook and
other social media platform  Encourage them to interact and share our content to their
friends.
Implement social media optimization to boost traffic among GVB Hong Kong’s all social
media channels.
Invest more on Facebook Advertisement to increase the reach of user-generated content
and encourage engagement.
Guam International Marathon
We will continue working with travel agents specializing on sports and marathon to promote GIM. Besides
Maywood, United Vacations and Guam Holiday, we will expand the TA networks and include more TAs to
promote GIM. On top of travel agents, we will reach out to running clubs and promote to their members.
Promotion Vehicle
- Print Ad campaign on SportSOHO magazine
- Special feature booklets distributed during Standard Chartered Marathon
- Facebook Ad to target marathon lovers
- Small fam tour to live stream the event
Guam Micronesia Island Fair/FestPac
The theme presents indigenous people of the Mariana Islands.
 What we own (I Pa’an Taotao Tano’) – Our way of life, our identity as indigenous people.
 What we have ( I guinahan I Tano’ yan I Tasi) – Our resources from land and sea that have
sustained our people for thousands of years.
 What we share ( Inaafa Maolek) – Our hospitatlity and our kindness that Chamorros give to all.
 United voices of the Pacific (Taihinekok) – Never ending of our people’s way of life, the respect
from us and to us.
We will use the historical and cultural themes to promote this mega event and attract visitors to experience
the art, heritage and special character of Guam and other participated places. Besides, we believe this
festival will provide opportunities for local communities to develop and share their culture with others.
Therefore, we will also develop some promotional programs to provide opportunities for visitors to engage
with local communities and help visitors to interact with the host community.
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To work with airlines on joint ads placement and offer special packages for the event.
To explore opportunity with TV station for TV episode shootings regarding culture and heritage
To work closely with travel agents to develop FestPac products for consumer market
To work closely with travel agents focusing on school markets to provide incentive program for them
to promote cultural exchange programs to schools
To have 2-3 “wow” public campaigns to drive visibility
Guam LIVE Music Festival
We will continue working with travel agents to develop products for GLMF.
Promotion Vehicle
- Joint-Ad promotion with travel agents
- Pre-sales campaign and target those fans of performing groups
- Facebook Ad to target fans of performing groups
- Fam tour to create media awareness
- Line up with local music festivals and promote via their events
Guam BBQ Block Party
Promotion Vehicle
- Joint-Ad promotion with travel agents and develop product for this event
- Small fam tour and invite food bloggers to come and try
- Work with food magazine to do a feature story of past winners
- Facebook Ad to target foodies
Shop Guam Festival
We will continue working with travel agents to promote SGF.
Promotion Vehicle
- Joint-Ad campaign with travel agents
- Work with OTA to promote SGF package online with campaign
- Make use of SGF shopping videos and promote via Facebook and YouTube Ad
- FAM tour and invite bloggers to develop theme articles (e.g. top three items you suggested at
GPO) after their visit. We will use these articles to promote and attract visitors visiting Guam in
January and February.
9.
Representation Services
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Representing GVB to liaise with industry partners such as airlines, travel agents, wedding companies, etc.
Representing GVB to liaise with media in Hong Kong
Representing GVB to attend meetings of ANTOR and Brand USA
Develop and implement marketing campaigns to promote different activities in Guam
10. Administrative Services
- Assist GVB to source premium and follow up production
- Provide inquiry hotline for general public
- Provide “Guam corner” at office for people to come and collect marketing collaterals e.g. Guam
guidebook, Guam map, Guam factsheets and some information of optional tours.