With 50 members the JMC is the largest committee at the bureau not surprising given that Japan is Guam’s largest visitor market.

"We do have our work cut out for us " Bruce E. Kloppenburg president of Kloppenburg Enterprises Inc. which does business as Turtle Tours and new chairman of the Japan Marketing Committee; told the Journal. "The trend for the summer is not good with declining arrivals from Japan. We have some institutional issues in the airline industry "" JAL [Japan Airlines] is reorganizing its company and that is having an effect with downsizing and night flights. We as a bureau need to be prepared to come up with some programs." He said it was too late for marketing programs for the summer but that the bureau should prepare for fall and winter promotions. "I’m very concerned about what happened in Saipan. We need to make sure it doesn’t happen in Guam; we need to be very aggressive."

Marketing monies had been on the downturn Kloppenburg said. "Funding is a big issue and has been for a number of years. We don’t get our appropriations "" we are always reducing our programs. If we need to go after additional funding that’s going to be one of my main jobs."

Kloppenburg said he was "cautiously optimistic " at the outlook for the Japan market.

Formed in 1981 as the Overseas Programs & Promotions Japan committee the Japan Marketing Committee "was established to assist in the development of marketing strategies for the attraction and satisfaction of visitors from Japan."

Its mission statement is to "promote travel to Guam in the Japan market achieving objectives articulated by the GVB Board of Directors " and its stated goal is to "increase Guam’s market share of the desired visitor mix of outbound travel from Japan."

According to documents supplied to the Journal by the bureau "All of GVB members are eligible to join the Japan Marketing Committee."

The JMC’s objectives are "to define the most attractive market segments and visitor mix each year; to regularly and periodically analyze travel trends of the core market segments; to attract niche segments to supplement arrivals during off peak periods; to coordinate visitor arrivals with appropriate tourism resources and infrastructure; and to monitor and evaluate visitor satisfaction."

Members must attend two meetings to be eligible to join the committee and are removed automatically after three missed meetings.

Kloppenburg is also vice chairman of the board and chairman of the executive and membership committees.

Other marketing committees are the Korea Marketing Committee with 13 members chaired by Richard Lai executive vice president of Shirley’s Restaurants; the Asia Pacific Marketing Committee with five members chaired by Manfred H. Pieper general manager of the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa; and the Americas and Europe Committee with five members chaired by Carl Peterson

Other GVB committees are the Market Research & Development Committee chaired by Walter B. Dias staff vice president for sales and marketing at Continental Micronesia; the Destination Development & Maintenance Committee chaired by Judy Flores director of Gef Pa’ago Cultural Village and Jesse A. Leon Guerrero ?; Sports Tourism chaired by Lee P. Webber publisher of the Pacific Daily News; Guam Marketing & Public Education chaired by Vice Mayor Robert Hoffman of Sinajana; Financial/ Administration Support Committee chaired by Joseph F. Camacho DFS U.S. Group vice president of finance. Together with David B. Tydingco chairman of the board Thomas "Jerry" J.M. Calvo vice president of Calvo Enterprises Inc.; and Im Hong Song president and owner of Miki Taxi Service committee chairs comprise the board of the bureau.

Bureau staff are assigned to each committee. MBJ