MTEC speaker highlights ‘software’ of tourist experience

Hundreds of students were told about the importance of good “software,” or people, in helping brand a tourism destination during the second day of the Marianas Tourism Education Council summit last Friday.

Fred Schumann, associate professor at the University of Guam, shared opportunities students could have in the “experience economy” of their island tourism, reminding them that a “brand is a promise.” Schumann was the quest speaker at last Friday’s MTEC summit. (Dennis B. Chan)

His shared the importance of “starting at a young age to learn about how tourism affects everyone.”

“We are in the business of creating happiness,” he told students, explaining the importance of celebrating a destination’s uniqueness with “branding” and the direct and indirect ways people can enhance the “experience economy” of the islands.

Tourism is for young kids and older adults, he told Saipan Tribune in an interview. “Whatever decisions are made in tourism, these are going to last for more than one generation, so everyone is needed to be involved.”

He shared with students a story of his trek along the length of Japan—from its southern tip to northern—when he was much younger and before he joined the tourism industry.

“One of the things that I learned was the ‘software’ part [of tourism.] It’s the people that really make your trip memorable. I met some really nice people on the way,” he said.

“When I was running the length of the Japan… I looked like a bum. I was wearing shorts and I had a backpack and people gave me dirty looks. What are you doing on the road? One day [television network] NHK interviewed me. The next day, I was wearing the same things and doing the same things and all of a sudden people were smiling and waving.”

He realized then that “everyone has a story.”

Travel makes you learn about yourself and people, he said.

“I’ve been to places where they have fancy architecture and great history but the software wasn’t there. And I’ve been to places where there is nothing, but the people make the place an excellent place to visit.”

He also emphasized branding to the students, saying that “nobody can copy your culture and history.”

In 2008, Guam began to promote their local culture, he said. According to him, that same year is when search hits for Guam started trending more.

“I found out the key words related to Chamorro culture were ‘food’ and ‘Chamorro village’ and ‘Chamorro restaurant.’…Now there’s a real strong interest in eating Chamorro food. I’m involved in a project called ‘One Village, One Product’ so that people in the village can make something and sell, so people can be directly involved in the tourism industry,” he said.

Ideally, a Chamorro restaurant would say that they are using “salt from Inarajan,” for example.

None of the hotels in Guam have Chamorro restaurants, he said, so these are “great opportunities” for Guam as well as Saipan to share culture and enhance tourism.

Schumann has been active as a business executive in the Asia-Pacific region for over 30 years, working with various multinational retail and hospitality firms. His primary research has been in the field of international tourism and trends in consumer spending. He has extensive experience in luxury and specialty retail, with groups such as DFS Guam and The Athlete’s Foot Group, Inc. At TAF, he was responsible for 196 retail stores in 17 countries/territories as franchise director for the Asia-Pacific region.