Guam Wants to Be Asia-Pacific’s Next Meetings and Incentive Travel Hub
Photo Credit: Opened last December, the new Dusit Thani Guam Resort provides the U.S. territory with its first large convention center. Dusit Hotel International
Skift Take
Guam presents an interesting option for Asia-Pacific conferences because it's a tropical island with mature tourism infrastructure and decent airlift, but there's a lot of work to do to show American meeting planners and attendees that the long flight is worth it. It's easy to say you want to be Hawaii, and another to actually be it.
The Pacific Asia Travel Association held its annual conference at the new Dusit Thani Guam Resort in May this year, signaling a shift in strategy for Guam toward capturing more of the lucrative international meetings and incentive travel market.
Since the hotel opened in December 2015, Visit Guam has been positioning the island for North American business events as something resembling a "small Hawaii," combining the allure of a tropical island destination with the familiarity of American soil.
As a U.S. territory with a mature tourism infrastructure and wide-ranging hotel inventory, Guam enjoys the protections and facilities necessary to support international conferences. Likewise, as the biggest island in Micronesia, located in the Western Pacific roughly two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to The Philippines, the cobalt blue waters and white beaches provide the necessary backdrop for corporate incentive travel programs.
"We refer to ourselves as 'America in Asia,
