STORY:
Island of Guam still has rooms available

Given the choice, would millennium-minded travelers prefer to brave the bitter cold of New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve, or celebrate the year 2000 some 15 hours earlier amidst warm ocean breezes on an island in the Pacific?

Hoteliers on the island of Guam are finding that many are opting for the latter scenario. Guam will be the first American soil to experience the dawn of the new millennium, and hotels in the U.S. territory are filling up fast with visitors looking to take part in the island's celebration.

"There still are some hotel rooms available at this point, but they are going quickly," says Theresa Cruz-Paulino, acting general manager of the Guam Visitors Bureau. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and many travelers from the U.S. mainland have already made plans to visit Guam and celebrate our nation's initial entry into the next century."

The year-end influx of mainland visitors will be the latest demonstration of the island's continuing emergence as a growing leisure and business travel destination in the Pacific. Guam's growing array of accommodations range from smaller properties to high-rise beachfront resorts.

Besides being the westernmost point in the United States, the island of Guam, which is approximately 3,800 miles west of Hawaii, provides beautiful, uncrowded beaches, championship golf courses, world-class diving and snorkeling, and a variety of cultural and historical sites, activities and events.

"We're 15 hours ahead of New York, so it will be 9 a.m. on Dec. 31 in Times Square when we begin celebrating the year 2000," Cruz-Paulino said. Guam is 18 hours ahead of the Pacific time zone and 20 hours ahead of Hawaiian time.

For more information, or to obtain contact information for the island's wide array of hotels, contact the North American office of the Guam Visitors Bureau, 1336-C Park St., Alameda, Calif. 94501, (800) 873-4826/(800-US-3-GUAM), or e-mail guam@avisoinc.com. Or, visit the Guam web site at www.visitguam.org.

DATE: 1/11/99

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