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OPPORTUNITIES in tourism industry are being seen over at Guam
following the country’s participation in the First Pacific
Mayor’s Conference held at the Sheraton Laguna Guam Resort
recently.
The conference, held to address various economic
issues and trends particular to the region and how local authorities
can act, brought together over 300 mayors, local officials,
community leaders and business decision makers from the Philippines,
Palau, the Northern Marianas Islands, Micronesia and Marshall
Islands.
“Our initial talks with the local government
officials in Micronesia opened up prospects for the tourism industry
of both countries. For the meantime, the Department of Tourism sees
that it can leverage on the fact that the Philippines is just three
hours away from Guam. This makes a paradise-to-paradise connection
very possible,” Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said.
The conference, organized by the Association of
Pacific Island Governments, aims to fortify cultural and information
linkages between the local and regional governments in the
Philippines and the Micronesian islands.
Representing the Philippines’ tourism agency
was Tourism Undersecretary for Special Concerns Phineas Alburo.
Tourism department’s marketing team for North
America and private sector partner CCT168 Travel further organized a
travel exchange with Guam-based tour operators during the concurrent
special trade exhibit, wherein primary ideas for joint promotional
activities and package development were successfully raised.
“Guam’s tourist arrivals are dominated
mostly by Japanese and American nationals. Coincidentally, these are
two of our major target markets. We already have the promotional
programs that speak to these tourists in their home country,”
Durano said.
“The challenge now is to create the buzz that
they can double-up on their tropical holiday experience by going to
both the Philippines and Guam,” he added.
The US and Japan are currently the second and
third leading tourist providers to the Philippines.
Arrivals from Guam for the four months of the
year totaled 12,031, or a modest 6.6-percent increase from the same
period in 2007. But Durano still anticipates growth within the year
as the Tourism department continues to look for newer avenues to
expand its reach to more of the international travel sector,
including that of Guam
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-- Rommel C. Lontayao
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