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The Jewel at the Very Heart of the Pacific Ocean
Famed for its strategic location, Guam is also the land of passion and opportunity.

It’s the tropical and cultural meeting point of the Pacific, with a richand storied history. However, the most exciting thing about theisland of Guam isn’t the past, it’s the bright future. A United States
territory, Guam is known around the world for its strategic locationand trade links, and it is welcoming the world to its shores toexperience its unique attractions, for business and pleasure. This Micronesian island of 172,000 people boasts a growing economy andvibrant cultural heritage. Located just a few hours by air from Tokyo,Seoul, and Taipei, Guam has strong Asian and Micronesian connec-tions, while also enjoying its status as an unincorporated territoryof the USA. The island is known by the saying “Where America’s
Day Begins,” given its position to the east of the closest U.S. state,Hawaii. Its blend of influences is one of its key strengths. “We still
have a large local, cultural, and traditional population in Guam andwe are the most developed island in Micronesia,” said the Honorable
Lourdes “Lou” Leon Guerrero, Governor of Guam. “I was born andraised here,” Guerrero said. “My main goal is to improve the qualityof life of our people.”#WeAreGuam: The Unmissable Destination

The Honorable “Lou” Leon Guerrero,
Governor of GuamAs an island of inherent natural beauty,
surrounded by stunning, pristine beaches,
Guam is an ideal vacation spot by any
definition. When you add its location just afew hours by air from Tokyo and Seoul, andits status as a United States territory, Guamperfectly bridges both sides of the Pacific.
While the tourism industry is of huge
importance to the economy – responsible
for one-third of private sector jobs on theisland – like most destinations, it suffereda major downturn during the COVID-19
pandemic, with its East Asian customer
base restricted by lockdowns.
The island is now working as hard as
possible to welcome visitors back to its shores. “Despite being an American community, our economic core is Asian,” said GuamVisitors Bureau President and CEO CarlT.C. Gutierrez. “Guam must develop itsinterconnectivity and interdependency withthe broader Asia-Pacific region.” In 2019,

Guam welcomed 1.6 million visitors, butwith East Asian tourism currently enjoying
a slower recovery rate (17–20%) than manyother regions, the island’s figures for thelast year were just 40% of pre-pandemic
levels. The tourism authorities’ recovery
plans include increasing marketing efforts
and online sales in Japan, while forging
stronger links with its fellow Micronesianislands. The Guam Visitors Bureau has also
launched a program of improvements toisland-wide facilities and infrastructure, andis seeking to build on its natural beauty andthe opportunities that presents.
The island is also home to a series ofdiverse festivities taking place across different towns and villages, and a major part of
the task is championing the unique cultural
attractions the island boasts. “We want tosell ‘Destination Guam’ as a culture-centric
haven, and exercise that specialty of hospitality and love for people,” said Gutierrez.

The people of Guam are renowned for their strength andresilience. Through a turbulent
history, the island has weatheredconflict, storms, and economic
turmoil.
Today, the island’s governor andits people are working together
to transform the culture andfinances of the island and usher
in a new era of social mobility,improved healthcare, and strong
business growth.
The United States territory’s
finances have been reformed,producing a recent surplus. Key
plans are being implemented tosupport manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and farming, as well as
significant moves towards providing healthcare and childcare forits people.
“I have witnessed the evolutionof our island from very agrarianand rural to very well-developed,” said Guam Governor
Lourdes “Lou” Leon Guerrero.

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Welcome to The Place to Play and the Place to Stay
Hospitality chain Dusit is setting a new standard for hotels and entertainment in Guam.

The Island of Industry and Innovation for BusinessPrivate sector interests play a huge part in the development and future prospects of Guam.

Latte stone pillars used as building supports.
The sun might set but the fun never stops at the Dusit properties on the beautiful and welcoming Paciﬁc island of Guam.

Top-class accommodation awaits at Dusit.

Guam’s Dusit spots are unmissable.

For modern tourists, retail, entertainment, and hotel resorts are increasingly
all about a combined experience. With
international travelers becoming moredemanding and particular about where
they go, and what they expect when
they get there, the onus is on the owners
and operators to offer a full menu ofattractions and services. On Guam, anisland teeming with diversity, history andopportunity, this is being spearheaded by
one of the best-known hotel and leisurechains in the world.
Thailand-based firm Dusit is amajor player in the island’s tourism
sector, with the Dusit Thani Guam
Resort, Dusit Beach Resort Guam andthe Bayview Hotel, all hugely popularwith visitors expecting a certain standard
for their vacation. After weathering themajor drop in visitor numbers due to thepandemic, the business is now bouncing
back in style. It is expanding its reachby transforming The Plaza Shopping
Center into Dusit Place, a combined
retail, accommodation, and entertainment complex in line with the firm’s “onedestination” brand strategy. “The incorporation of the shopping center into one
inclusive destination with the hotels is an
ideal way to extend the guest experience,creating a more expansive and hopefully satisfying experience,” said Dean
Huntsman, Regional Vice Presidentof Operations of Dusit Guam. “It truly
provides a complete immersive experience into the best of what Guam offers,
all in one place,” he said. The Dusit Place
strategy is about more than a rebranding
exercise and improving facilities andlinks to existing hotels.
The firm’s leaders are working closelyto foster and strengthen local partnerships and business dealings, celebrating
the best of Guam culture for the benefit
of island residents and incoming visitors
alike. Current facilities across Guam’s
Dusit footprint include beach and bar
restaurants, cafes, entertainment bar
lounges, stores, spas, pools, rooftop bar,club lounges, as well as an aquarium, anddozens of diverse dining and shopping
venues. According to Dean Huntsman,
this is just the beginning. “In the next three
to five years we plan to open three to four
more restaurants and we will complete therebranding and refresh of the Dusit Place
shopping mall and our aquarium,” said
Huntsman. “We are also very excited toopen our very own culinary school to train
our team of 150 chefs as well as upcoming
local talent,” he said.

Guam might be best known for its colonial
past, stunning beaches and tourism.
However, the island is also a Pacific businesssuccess story, combining the best of American entrepreneurship with links to the greatcities of East Asia, while acting as a gateway
to Micronesia. The United States territory
has traditionally been known for its strategic
location, but the private sector has longmade a positive impact on Guam by combining the different cultures of the island witha strong sense of community and partnership. This is especially true of its biggest
employer, Core Tech Group. “A holistic viewof the island and our part in it underpins allof our work. We recognize that we all needeach other, even if that relationship isn’t
immediately clear,” said Chairman, Ho Eun.
“As a local company, we are inextricably
connected to Guam, and it is only naturalfor us to devote resources to ensuring that
our island is healthy, both economically andenvironmentally.” he said.
International chains have also enjoyedgreat success by working with the local
population. “We work to emphasize andstrengthen the focus on different cultures
to potentially achieve more for the local
community, to promote entrepreneurship and elevate business service mindsets within Guam,” said Rachel Tan,Vice
President of Operations, Mid Pacific, forduty-free chain DFS Group. “As founding
partners of the Guam Unique Merchandise
and Art organization, we work to support
entrepreneurship within Guam and emphasize and strengthen the focus on differentcultures,” said Tan. “We can potentiallyachieve more for the local community, notjust to promote entrepreneurship, but also
to elevate the business mindsets within
Guam,” she said.
Guam is well known as one of thestrongest Pacific Island economies, with aper capita gross domestic product (GDP)of over $34,600 in 2020. Despite feeling theeffects of COVID-19, particularly regarding
tourism, a multi-billion dollar U.S. military
relocation project and rebounding visitor
numbers are positive indicators for thefuture. Calvo Enterprises Inc. President
Leonard P. Calvo hopes to see more local
production and greater infrastructure
support for the island’s future potential asa logistics hub. His firm operates some of
the Guam’s biggest manufacturing plants,
including a Pepsi bottling franchise. “Onething Guam needs to do is to take advantage
of manufacturing or assembly of goods tobring in raw materials and process them totake to the other islands,” said Calvo. “Whatever we can do here and supply Micronesia,
it would be great. You have to find the rightthing for Guam,” he said. Dean Huntsman,the regional Vice President of Operationsof luxury hotel chain Dusit Guam, feels thatpolitical status is a clear advantage in thePacific region. “Being a U.S. territory distinguishes Guam from its sister islands. This is aselling point for the target markets of Japanand Korea looking to associate with the qualities of the USA and the ‘Where America’s
day begins’ experience,” said Huntsman.

Picturesque view of Guam’s Tumon Bay resorts.

Ho S. Eun, Chairman,
Core Tech GroupThe island mentality of communityand hard work is at the very core ofwhat makes Guam a special place tolive. It’s also what makes its largest
employer, Core Tech Group, a special
place to work.
Having started life as a three-person construction firm in 1991, thebusiness is now the most important
enterprise on the island, having
expanded to encompass property
management, tourism, media, andfinance in addition to its charitablefoundation. Of the 172,000 Guamanians, 2,400 work for Core Tech. The
chairman feels a deep responsibility
for his staff and the wider population. “When we perform a job, wecreate opportunities for the people
on the island, and the profits arereinvested in Guam,” said Ho Eun.
As Core Tech moves forward, theGroup remains committed to its culture of driven conscientiousness. “Ido not think there is anything more
important than the hard-working
spirit,” said Eun. The company plans
for the long-term, and expansion
beyond the sea to Japan, Korea, orHawaii has been mooted.
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Building a Sustainable
Future for Guam
It might be a small island community, but thepeople of Guam are thinking big to build a brightertomorrow. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, thatmeans practicing farming and sustainability onland—and at sea. Surrounded by a rare, vast coral
reef formation, protecting this natural wonderland
for the next generation is integral to development.
The local government is working with private-sector investors and academic researchers to support
agriculture and cutting-edge aquaculture. Sustainability is key to all of this.
For example, University of Guam scientists
employ drones to plant seeds in remote areas
to reduce the impact of climate change, while atree-planting program and sediment filter devices
have been rolled out to fight land erosion. “Our water and environmental research institute is 1 of 54
in the US and is the only one that is multijurisdictional, including the Northern Marianas, Guam,and the Federated States of Micronesia,” said theuniversity’s President Thomas W. Krise.
“Everything we do on land affects the ocean down
below,” said University of Guam Associate Professor Austin Shelton. “We are helping lead the growth and expansion of our aquaculture industry, withexperts doing aquaponics at the community level. I
would like to highlight the sustainability initiative
we facilitate out of our Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant,” Shelton said. “Partnerships
are very vital,” said Senior Vice President Anita
Borja Enriquez. “For example, Guam Waterworks
Authority professing that our Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacificserves as their research and development arm.
We aim to be a respectful partner and anorganization providing value, problem-solving andinnovation.”These partnerships are vital, according
to Guam’s governor, the Honorable Lourdes “Lou”
Leon Guerrero. “I want us to be the leaders inthis area for aquaculture,” said Governor
Guerrero. “We are working very closelywith the University of Guam, while
the College of Natural and Applied
Sciences is working with private-sector
investors on hydroponic farming andaquaculture,” she said.

Global Retail, Local Impact

International luxury retailer DFS plays a huge part in Guam life.

T Galleria by D

Guam is one of Guam’s favorite retail spots.

Living on a small but perfectly formed island, the people of Guam are used tolooking out toward the rest of the world. So, when the world comes to visit inthe shape of international business, Guamanians welcome it with open arms—
none more so than the world’s leading luxury travel retailer, DFS Group. The
multinational firm runs one of the most significant shopping hubs on thePacific Island and plays a huge part in its tourism, travel and holiday industries.
To blend seamlessly into island life, the duty-free shopping business leaders
worked closely with islanders to properly assimilate with the local populationand culture. Through a mixture of high-class shopping and community engagement, DFS has become a leading employer in the last 52 years, since the first
Guam outlet opened in 1971.
Its flagship store T Galleria by DFS, Guam does great business withislanders, as well as incoming travelers. Examples of social outreach include
supporting cancer charity work and backing entrepreneurship programs withlocal arts and crafts producers. “Over the last 50 years, our employees andorganizations within the division have led the way in cultural upkeeping and
we truly take pride in that,” said Rachel Tan, Vice President Operations Mid
Pacific of DFS Group. “It is not just about building up the organizations within
Guam or different destinations, but it is also about us being in an environment
whereby we continue to provide support to the local community,” she said. The
global group, with branches in 13 nations on four continents, is one of the bestknown travel shopping names in the industry. As a luxury retail space bringing
some of the world’s most desirable products and brands to Guam, the staff atDFS are rightly proud of the store’s place in the island’s economy. “Before thepandemic, 90% of our customers were travelers, but with a halt in tourism, wehad to shift our focus elsewhere. For instance, we aimed to find ways to engage
with the local community by providing intentional efforts to cater to their
shopping needs,” said Tan.“We look forward to continuing to expand our footprint within the region, creating a true omnichannel experience from online(pre departure) to offline (destination) retail channels. We imagine the time
where customers across all Mid Pacific islands are able to shop DFS boundlessly with or without the constraint of physical brick and mortar spaces,” she said.
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