The government of Japan, through the Tourism Nation Promotion Act, has launched the Visit World Campaign to encourage the expansion of two-way tourism between Japan and the world. With the goal of increasing the number of outbound Japanese tourists to 20 million by 2010, the Visit World Campaign has identified nine National Tourism Offices as outstanding examples worthy of replication by their peers.

The Guam Visitors Bureau was named one of the National Tourism Offices whose organizational and marketing practices were deemed highly successful and recognized by the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) as an example for other NTOs to follow. Guam is known for its strong sales and marketing effort in Japan, from where 80% of the island’s visitors originate.

“When GVB first heard about the Visit World Campaign, Governor Camacho contacted them to inquire as to how Guam could become involved,” said General Manager Gerald S.A. Perez, “We were very honored to be invited to participate and are excited about what this will mean for Guam.”

“The Visit World Campaign was established to energize Japan’s overseas travel market at a time when departures to key destinations had been sluggish, and more recently in slight decline,” said Perez. “We are very happy that Guam was selected to participate as a key destination.”

Japan’s Visit World Campaign will include media promotions throughout the country for specific destinations, of which Guam is a part, as well as direct marketing and the VWC Tourism Friendship Ambassador program. Guam has carefully nurtured its relationship with Japan over the years and enjoys a healthy number of repeat visitors from its largest tourist market as a result.