GHRA offers free mayoral workshop to help villages plan festivals, build tourism partnerships

Mary Rhodes, executive with the Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association, told the Mayor’s Council of Guam on Sept. 4 that GHRA will offer a free workshop within the next month to help village mayors develop festival work plans, budgets and permit checklists and to prepare communities to apply for community grants.

Rhodes said the workshop will include templates for timelines, profit-and-loss projections, vendor contract basics and the permitting requirements of public-health, fire and revenue-and-tax agencies. "We would be your partner to submit in this and work with all the government agencies to make sure you're in compliance," she said.

The association presented the workshop as part of a broader push to include village-level events in Guam’s tourism recovery strategy. Rhodes said GHRA previously ran a mayoral training tied to grant eligibility that helped create long-running events such as the Mango Festival and other village festivals, and that the new workshop would revive that program so villages can compete for funding from the Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB), the Guam Economic Development Authority (GEDA) and other sources.

Rhodes also described related GHRA initiatives she said would support village economic activity: redeveloping the Guam Island Fiesta Tour and helping villages identify signature events; promoting local artisans, agricultural products and seasonal calendaring; pilot public–private partnerships to revitalize lookouts and vendor spaces; and a Guam brand training program to educate employees and residents about Guam’s flora, fauna, landmarks and cultural history.

President Mayor Jesse Alec, who invited GHRA to speak, supported the collaboration and the council raised no objection to the workshop proposal. Rhodes said GHRA will coordinate with the mayoral office staff to send a workshop flyer and will invite subject-matter speakers — including public-health and fire officials — to present permit and licensing requirements during the session.

Rhodes encouraged mayors to send either the mayor or a designated staff member to the workshop and said GHRA will share templates and permit forms so villages can be prepared to apply for grants and to produce a community events calendar for the coming year.

The council and GHRA representatives also discussed opportunities to tie village festivals into tourism touchpoints such as the airport and to expand Guam brand training into schools. Rhodes said GHRA has agreed with Guampedia and GVB on educational materials and posters that can be used for community and visitor-facing training.

The mayoral group agreed to receive GHRA’s workshop materials and to coordinate dates through the president’s office. No formal vote was required; the proposal moved forward by consensus.

Ending: GHRA will circulate a flyer and workshop packet in the coming weeks and said the three-hour workshop will be free. Mayors were asked to consider attending or designating staff members who will handle permitting and grant paperwork so villages can begin preparing festival work plans and event calendars for the next fiscal year.