A recently released draft Guam recovery plan (guamrecoveryplan.com) by a group of tourism businesses seeks to bring back our lackluster tourism industry. I would like to share some ideas to broaden our tourist experiences.
We need to be innovative and build on our island’s charm and character while providing opportunities for our visitors to have adventures on Guam. We should have realized by now that high-rise hotels are not a real winner for all visitors.
Setting aside the problems of current exchange rates and exorbitant airline fares for a moment, let’s be creative and use our cultural and natural heritage to attract tourists while keeping in mind quality and not quantity.
I would submit that adventures into our unique heritage of cultural, history, environment, and beauty should be the key selling points to distinguish Guam from a multitude of similar tropical destinations.
Tours to showcase our pre-war peaceful charm of historic Inalåhan village with perhaps a homestay and authentic CHamoru food and entertainment.
Explorations to secluded ancient latte sites, pictographs, Gadao’s Cave, and the iconic symbol of Fouha Rock.
Discovering and exploring remote island beaches such as Guam’s only black sand beach at Paicpouc Cove.
Establish a national monument at Fena to preserve the tropical forest, waterfalls, and hundreds of latte for the enjoyment by the people of Guam and our visitors.
Explore the hidden ruins of Libugon Radio Station and perhaps discover the hidden decoding machine.
Enjoy the island scenic and photographic boat cruises while offering remote locations for snorkeling and SCUBA diving.
Enjoy watching the dolphins and perhaps spot a passing whale.
Discover the remnants of the island’s Spanish charm of fortifications with Fort Santa Agueda overlooking Hagåtña and the three in Humåtak: Fort Soledad, Fort Santo Angel, and Four San Jose.
Finding the five old Spanish bridges is an adventure in itself in Hagåtña, Taleyfac and Taelayag in Hågat, Sella Bay, and in Humåtak.
Visit the old Spanish shrine at Atantano Piti.
Restore the Governor’s Palace in Hagåtña’s Plaza de Espana to reflect the charm of bygone times, with the Guam Museum just across the street.
A detailed exploration of the World War II battlefields would interest military history buffs, starting with the visitor’s center of the War in the Pacific National Historical Park and include explorations to remote Tweed’s Cave and Yokoi’s Cave.
Provide a unique diving program to explore all four shipwrecks from World War II with the Tokai Maru, Nichiyu Maru, and Kitsugawa Maru in Apra Harbor, along with the Aratama Maru in Talofofo Bay. Reward those who accomplished diving all four with a unique gift.
Then there is the uniqueness of our island’s geology. Visits to such geological features as the natural arch near Pugua, the Keyhole at Talofofo Caves, the collapsed sinkhole in Pagat, the forbidding Devil’s Punchbowl in Tumon, and the distinctive columnal basalt at Astaban near Humatak will impress our visitors of the island’s distinctiveness.
Caves are further geological features worth taking our visitors to explore such as Fafai, Talo’fo’fo’, Pagat, Ritidian, and Asiga. Continue with a moonlit night trek to Ghost Cave to meet taotaomona.
Adventure to four unique Guam mountains: the tallest, Mount Lamlam; mysterious Mount Tenjo; the journey to hell and back, Mount. Sasalaguan; and the mountain with two names, Mount Finacresta also known as Mount Schroeder. All offer views of the island from the east coast to the west coast of Guam.
We have an abundance of beautiful secluded waterfalls, at least 50, on our island worthy of many journeys. One that is a few minutes from near the road to several worthy of a day’s hike.
Perhaps the most unique can be our underground water attractions as Guam has an underground river at Mahlac, an underground swimming pool at Pagat, an underground waterfall at Mount Santa Rosa, and even an underground beach at Fadian.
Provide a campout on the southern mountains to witness both the sunset and the sunrise.
For lodging, forego the high-rise concrete hotels crowded along Tumon Bay and have remote beachside traditional bungalows that blend into our tropical naturalness such as once existed on Cocos Island.
The Guam Visitors Bureau should be assisting local businesses that provide adventures and not rich airlines and English soccer terms.
Let’s provide our future guests unique Guam adventures that they will remember for a lifetime and who will desire to return to Guam for more experiences and memories.
This post was originally published on here
