GVB building "Land of the Children" cultural smart park on Tumon Bay

In the next few years, the Guam Visitors Bureau plans on opening the island’s first interactive cultural smart park.  It’s a project that could take the island’s unique culture and heritage to the next level.

Director of tourism research and strategic planning for GVB Nico Fujikawa detailed the agency’s plans to unveil the inaugural cultural “smart park” at Ypao Beach on Tumon Bay, a major theme park that showcases Guam’s cultural identity. He explained, "How do we enhance the island experience, not just for visitors, but for the locals? You’ll notice now that we’re dealing with a more globalized, intelligent, tech-savvy visitor, in any destination. And what that means is people no longer go to touristy sites, just because it’s a touristy site.

"So in order for something to be truly attractive we have to get the locals on board first. The locals have to feel a sense of pride in the thing that are here on Guam and so with that, we came up with something that I think the island has been lacking and the team realizes, I think possibly the region is lacking and that’s the Tano i Famagu’on, which translates into the land of the children."

The opening of the interactive park is also a fresh way to entice more tourists from Japan, Korea and Taiwan to experience the Hafa Adai spirit and learn more about our island's rich history.

"Imagine a park immersed in island culture. In the infrastructure, from things like a sinahi seesaw to a plumeria-go-round, which we like to call. Huge dukduk shells, the giant flying proa. We’re trying to create a sense of place, but we have to take it a step further. Like I said, everyone is tech-savvy, we’re in a digital world now, so the 'smart' in that 'smart park' is key. Everything in the park we’re looking to have a digital component. Imagine scanning that sinahi seesaw as a visitor or even as a local and you can learn the significance of it. When it was first found, on what body, in what property here on the island, what it represented. We’re trying to make culture not just more fun, but more accessible," he said.

The digital elements of the park will be educational, multilingual and multi-generational. The aim of the activities is to tell the island’s cultural stories, traditions and values. The project will cost $50 million and GVB has already received $20 million from the governor to get it rolling and development for the project began back in September and October of last year. 

GVB hopes to have the interactive smart park fully open and ready by 2025.