G-Bike, which operates personal mobility (PM) sharing platform GCOO, announced on the 28th that it has launched its service in Guam. It has expanded its business territory to Guam, a U.S. territory, beyond the U.S. mainland cities of Memphis and LA, marking its third landing in the United States this year.
GCOO is starting its service with a fleet of 300 vehicles targeting locals and Korean tourists in the Tamuning area of downtown Guam. By signing an MOU with local travel company Lumatic Pacific, they plan to provide tourist transportation services that reflect local travel trends.
Guam is an area where public transportation infrastructure is lacking, with limited bus schedules, and being in a tropical climate zone, taxis or rental cars are essential rather than walking. Considering that taxi fares are much higher compared to domestic rates, there is an expected high demand for affordable shared personal mobility for short-distance travel.
Most importantly, out of the 320,000 travelers from around the world who visited Guam last year, 190,000 were Koreans, and even until June this year, over 180,000 Koreans visited Guam, accounting for 61.2% of the tourist market share.
GCOO provides a global platform that allows for service usage with just one GCOO app even overseas, hence domestic GCOO app users will find it convenient and familiar to use the same service in Guam. G-Bike operates the service using KT's roaming line for expansion into Guam.
Furthermore, Guam doesn't require a separate license to ride personal mobility vehicles, and helmets are recommended but not mandatory, which should make it more convenient for travelers to use the service.
GCOO's CEO Yoon Jong-soo said, "Starting with Memphis this year, we have been accelerating our overseas market strategy and platform expansion to LA and Guam, continuing our steady growth," and "For the successful globalization of the GCOO brand, we will focus on market expansion beyond Korea to Asia and North America, enhancing our presence and competitiveness in the global market."
