#13: Mary Rhodes – Why Guam’s Tourism Recovery Hinges on Data, Not Dollars

In this wide-ranging conversation, we sit down with Mary Rhodes, President of the Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association, to unpack what’s really holding Guam’s visitor economy back—and why the answers are already sitting in our spreadsheets. With decades of leadership across healthcare, hospitality, and public-private partnerships, Mary breaks down the systems failure at the heart of Guam’s slow recovery: we collect data, but we don’t use it. We talk about tourism, but we don’t coordinate. We invest in construction, but not in the workers who make it all run. We explore: Why Guam’s market recovery is stalled—despite flights resuming from Japan and Korea How siloed data and missing infrastructure are costing us $100M+ per year The surprising link between food waste, refrigeration, and pricing How transportation and housing failures are creating workforce shortages Why per diem reform, not promotion, might be Guam’s biggest tourism win Mary makes one thing clear: the tourism industry isn’t just broken—it’s being overlooked. And unless we fix how we plan, how we partner, and how we prioritize, we’ll miss the window to build a future that works for everyone. Whether you’re in government, business, or just someone who cares about Guam’s long-term future, this episode is a call to get serious—about systems, scale, and strategy. Listen now—and rethink what recovery really means.