Promoting "Sports Tourism" to Attract Travelers – Yen Te-Fen: Guam’s Greatest Beauty Lies in Nature

Reported by You T-Ru / Special Feature

The crystal-clear, seemingly boundless blue sky and sea are the most captivating elements of beauty. Guam, just a three-and-a-half-hour flight from Taiwan, is the closest destination where you can experience American culture and go shopping. Yen Te-Fen, representative of the Guam Visitors Bureau, stated that the most appealing aspect of Guam is its pristine and unspoiled natural landscapes, along with the ability to safely enjoy extreme sports, making it a highly cost-effective travel destination.


▲ Yen Te-Fen, Representative of the Guam Visitors Bureau. (Photo / Reporter Zhou Chen-Geng)

Guam’s expansive beauty attracts many visitors who come here for more than just sightseeing. In recent years, the bureau has been promoting sports tourism, especially the extreme sports most loved by Taiwanese. Yen Te-Fen gave an example: compared to other Southeast Asian countries that also require 3 to 4 hours of flight time, skydiving in Guam is relatively safer, of higher quality, and offers a complete sense of security. “Guam is only about the size of two Taipei Cities, so its terrain and scenery can be seen particularly clearly from the air.”

In addition to skydiving, there are other sports tourism options such as flying small planes, road running, cycling, scuba diving, and boat diving. Yen Te-Fen recommends the Fish Eye Park for diving, calling it a must-visit attraction for travelers coming to Guam. Once ravaged by war, Fish Eye Park not only offers unique underwater landscapes visible through snorkeling but also features the distinctive “Fish Eye Tower,” allowing those who prefer not to get in the water to still enjoy marine views and watch others snorkeling. Aside from Fish Eye Park, boat diving is another highly attractive option, as it is home to the world’s only underwater remnants of World War I and II.


▲%Spinal Cord? What's this? The activities are also quite worthwhile experiences. (Image / Reporter Zhou Chen-Geng)


In 2014, the number of Taiwanese travelers visiting Guam reached 50,294, setting an all-time high, with Taiwan becoming the third-largest source of overseas visitors to Guam. Yen Te-Fen mentioned that Guam’s market has been steadily growing, and since most current flights from Taiwan to Guam are red-eye flights, they hope to offer better flight schedules for travelers in the future. For tourism promotion, celebrities such as Van Fan and FIR were invited to Guam to shoot music videos, successfully drawing attention from various demographics.

%Jia Xi Lu Yi said that Guam’s appeal lies in its pristine natural scenery. (Image / Reporter Zhou Chen-Geng)


As for the 2015 annual events, Guam hosts the Koko Kids Run starting in March, the Guam International Marathon in April, the Micronesian Islands Carnival in May, the International Music Festival in June, the BBQ Block Party in July, the adult-focused Koko Road Race in October, and a shopping carnival that lasts over two months in November—each offering fun experiences for visitors.

Yen Te-Fen stated that the Pacific Arts Festival, to be held in 2016, is a grand event gathering multiple Pacific nations. Taiwan has been specially invited to participate from May 22 to June 4 of that year, exchanging indigenous cultural elements, and it will also be one of the attractive special festivals.