GVB president meets Palau president to discuss potential tourism packages
Former Gov. Carl Gutierrez, president and CEO of the Guam Visitors Bureau, led a team to Palau to meet with President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr. and tourism officials to discuss opportunities to partner together to promote tourism in Palau and Guam.
They discussed working together on tour packages that would potentially route tourists to Guam and then Palau, or vice versa, from Asian markets.
Palau and Guam both rely on tourism as primary economic engines. GVB expects tourism numbers to reach about 60% of pre-COVID-19 this year but that requires aggressive action to attract tourists. That's where Gutierrez hopes to work with Palau, which has seen increased visitor numbers. According to Palau Visitors Authority, Palau had a total of 4,427 visitors in January 2024, marking a 10% rise from December 2023 and a significant 122% increase from January 2023. China led the arrivals, comprising 34%, followed by USA/Canada at 21%, and Taiwan at 18%. Japan's arrival numbers have steadily grown since November 2023, now accounting for 12% of arrivals. Europe, South Korea, and others collectively represent 15% of arrivals.
A Stinger missile is fired from a U.S. Marine Corps Marine Air Defense Integrated System Tenacious Archer at Airai in Palau on July 30, according to the photo and information released Aug. 24.
South Korea’s budget airlines Air Busan, Jin Air and Air Seoul will merge into single carrier by March 2027. The boards of all three companies approved the merger plan and signed the agreement on Aug 21. The carrier will operate under the Jin Air name.
Faʻasao Amerika Samoa and the Conservation Council for Hawaii, represented by the environmental law organization Earthjustice, filed a lawsuit Aug. 18 challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to launch deep-sea mining off the coast of American Samoa.
