As in previous years, the Guam Visitors Bureau will be present at the “JATA World Tourism Congress & Travel Fair”, which will be held at the Tokyo Big Sight from September 13th to 16th, 2007. The JATA World Tourism Congress & Travel Fair is comprised of two separate but complementary events. The JATA World Tourism Congress is a marketing conference centered around a particular theme relevant to today`s travel and tourism professionals.

This year’s theme is ‘Revitalizing the Japanese Travel Market, An Industry-wide Debate on Japan`s Global Competitiveness.’ Over the past four years, the focus has been on building the foundation for a 20 million outbound traveler market. In 2007 there will be a consolidation of the knowledge gleaned from past conferences to critically assess how to revitalize the Japanese travel industry, taking into consideration such issues as positioning, travel and revenue volume and product and service quality.

The JATA World Travel Fair is both a trade fair featuring a dedicated day for exhibitors to meet one-on-one with the Japanese travel trade and a consumer travel show where destinations and suppliers can showcase their travel offerings and appeal directly to potential Japanese travelers. As in previous years, several Guam properties, optional tours and businesses have come aboard to join the bureau in its overall Guam marketing efforts.

In addition to providing information on all topics related to tourism at its Guam booth, which will also feature over 10 hotels, shopping centers and travel agencies with their own distinct sections, the GVB will further state its presence at JATA WTF 2007 through several attractions to be held on the performance stage of the booth.

In 2006, the fair came to a close with a total of 106,241 visitors attending the annual event. The total count exceeded 2005 numbers by 2,037. The travel trade, press and general public eagerly perused through the 924 exhibition booths showcasing food, culture, travel packages, products and other incentives from 131 countries and regions.