Pictured above is a section of the  “We are Guam, We are Mangilao” mural which was created in the beginning of January in the village of Mangilao as part of the “We Are Guam” branding initiative by the Guam Visitors Bureau.  The program is meant to showcase the brand identity of Guam and it’s different villages.  This was the first mural to go up in the village of Mangilao out of the upcoming total of 19 for all Guam villages.  The mural in Mangilao depicts scenes which relate to the village of Mangilao.  The next “We Are Guam” mural will be created in the village of Yigo.

So if your visiting Guam and in the village of Mangilao be sure to check out the 114 x 14 feet mural which is in the intersection of Routes 10 and 15.

Note: To see the full mural click on the image above.

Probably one of Guam’s most popular dive spot, the Blue Hole was removed from a list of destinations around the world which were competing to be elected as one of the New Seven Natural Wonders of the World, an international competition held by the New7Wonders Foundation.

The reason stated for the delisting of the Blue Hole from the competition was because the Guam Visitors Bureau chose not to submit paperwork as a committee to support it as a nominee in the competition.  Guam Visitors Bureau President, Gerry Perez stated the reason GVB decided not to submit the paperwork was because they questioned the validity of the New7Wonders Foundation and the competition.  There was concern about the foundation and competition’s  for-profit goals, and the fact that it was not connected to UNSECO which has been documenting significant places around the world for almost 3 decades.

It’s possible that Guam could have lost a large sum of tourism revenue from the positive press the island could have received by being part of the competition.  The competition has been covered by many news and media outlets around the world including USA Today, Newsweek, Time Magazine, and Fox News just to name a few.  Any amount of press and worldwide attention which required little or no cost in a slumping economy would have been beneficial for the island in our opinion, but I guess we’ll really never know how much the worldwide attention would have benefited Guam now.

So do you think GVB made a mistake or did the right thing by not supporting the Blue Hole as a nominee in the New7Wonders competition?