Skift Take
Guam's approach is a mix of meeting visitors' expectations as well as improving quality of life for residents.
America is leading the world in destination development. Well, not exactly America. Just the U.S. Territory of Guam, a 209-square-mile island located between Hawaii and the Philippines.
They've been at it for over 20 years and are happy to credit their growth and successful word-of-mouth marketing with creative investments in their destination. Today, a third of Guam's DMO staff now works on the development side.
Skift spoke with Nathan Denight, the Deputy General Manager of Guam's Visitor Bureau and the point man of Guam's five-person destination development team.
Skift: How does the development fit with your marketing strategy?
Nathan Denight: You can't afford to just be marketing driven. You need that other side of it, because we're competing against other trendy destinations that are developing quickly. We need to keep improving our product to keep up. Our research shows that the best marketing is word of mouth, and if you're not delivering on your brand promise, then you can do all the marketing in the world, but customers won't come back and new ones won't come.
