Goodness Gracious, Guam!

The U.S. territory of GU is simply regarding 3 times the scale of Washington, D.C. however weirdly, it may well be booming.

Guam’s population is sort of smaller than most major U.S. cities at solely regarding 161,000 people. however 2012 information from the U.S. agency shows that Guam’s economy grew twenty four p.c over 5 years.

Not bad for associate island with regarding 0.5 the population of St. Louis, Missouri.

In 2012 alone, Guam’s economy generated $7.7 billion in revenue, compared to $6.2 billion in a pair of007, in step with census information.




So why is that this strategically positioned island booming in associate under-the-radar style of way?

Praise the tourists. Guam’s economic process owes a good deal to commercial enterprise over over a time period, in step with the GU Economic Development Authority. Annual guests high one.3 million folks with plenty of concentrate on attracting tourists from Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Add that to visa waivers for Russian guests and new direct flights from Peiping this summer — and you’ve got a destination within the creating. In Guam, you'll explore its Chamorro culture, warfare II historical sites and scenic parcel of land.

Plus, construction growth is additionally notable across the island, because of its military connections. The federal has invested with some serious dough in 2 base facilities, a National Guard facility, a brand new hospital and new academic facilities. native media in GU report that ninety p.c of the island had construction activity between Gregorian calendar month and March of this year, amounting to $77.7 million. And it’s not all military construction: GU officers reportedly cite a lot of of that money as non-military comes.

But there’s virtually no job growth to talk of. And 3 in four operating Guamanians area unit within the personal sector; plenty of these jobs support commercial enterprise and construction.

“There has been plenty of denial regarding our island — people who don’t believe that goodies area unit happening and goodies area unit returning,” Guam Gov. Eddie Baza Calvo aforesaid during a statement. “I hope this black and white information will show the doubters that GU is getting the proper direction.”

So whereas it would not nevertheless be time to ditch geographical area or Wall Street to go to the present island territory, perhaps we must always pay to a small degree a lot of attention to the economic potential of U.S. territories like GU. With the “Asian Tigers” — economies of port, Asian country, Singapore and Taiwan — changing into a lot of and a lot of outstanding, Guam’s proximity to Asia may be a Brobdingnagian geographic advantage.

Not to mention, Guam’s warm-year-round climate is trying pretty tempting.