GUAM Case Study: Introduction: Guam is a small island located in the Philippine Sea, its an unincorporated territory of US.

Throughout history, Guam has been influenced by Portuguese, Spanish, American and Japanese culture. Its been primarily home to the ancient Chamorro, who are the ancient inhabitants of the island. Guam enjoys a rich Chamorro cultural heritage even though it is not unique to the island. The population of Guam is ethnically diverse with 175000 inhabitants. The Chamorro descendants make up one third of this population. Guam by size is not very big but is a strategically located permanent military base for the United States. Guam is primarily a tourist destination blessed with beautiful scenery, exotic beaches and is the most preferred diving destination in Micronesia, which makes it the most ideal location for family holidays. Key issues faced by Guam and GVB: 1. GVB for its functioning is dependent on the budget allocated by the govt. The existing budget is not enough to promote the Destination Guam project. The main issue faced with regards to the budget is that GVB does not receive the allocated money on time and neither is the whole amount sanctioned. 2. Tourism industry in Guam contributes to 60% of the total revenue. As Guam is constraint by size there has been a maximum utilization of resources and this had led to stagnation of tourist inflow. 3. The quality of service available in the hospitality industry is extremely poor. It is not sophisticated and does not give the customer an added value for the money paid. 4. Guam tourism market has not projected itself as a place where there are big avenues for the upper class of people. This has resulted in it becoming a low budget tourist spot. 5. Travel to Guam today comes with a lot of hitches, like interrupted airplane and shipping services. Internal transport in Guam isnt much better either with only two bus operators for an entire country. The logistics and distribution channel for necessary commodities in Guam is not structured that intern results in the price rise of the essential commodities. 6. The East Asian countries of Japan, Korea and China have been completely exploited for the past 4 decades with regards to tourism. New market penetration into other nearby countries is essential for the tourism industry and the GVB to survive. 7. From an economic standpoint, the major investment capital inflow has been from Japan and US. Guam needs to liberalize its market to bring in foreign investment from other potential investors. This brings us to an understanding that Guam has reached a standstill situation which requires an dynamic and fresh perspective to push the tourism industry and the country in path of progress and prosperity.