Board of Directors

Sophia Chu Wigsten is the general manager for the Hyatt Regency Guam. Born in Taipei, Wigsten grew up in Guam, graduating from Academy of Our Lady of Guam in 1988 and went on to study at the University of Portland (Ore.), where she earned a bachelor’s in business administration in 1992. Upon graduation, a summer job as a sales assistant at the Palace Hotel Guam developed into a passion for and a career in the hospitality industry. She joined Hyatt Regency Guam in 1995 as business development manager, advancing from there including her most recent promotion to general manager in March 2014. In her 24 years in the industry, she has served more than once on the GHRA board and has also served on numerous committees for the Guam Visitors Burearu. She also sits on the Presidential Search Committee as community representative for the University of Guam. She is married to John Wigsten, and the couple has two daughters: Hallie and Ella.

Marie started her food and beverage industry journey in 1989 while residing on the east coast. After returning to Guam in 95, she began to plant her roots by working for Planet Hollywood at the DFS Galleria in Tumon in 1997. Marie became a supervisor and swiftly climbed up the management ladder eventually leaving in 2008 with the title of Vice President and General Manager. Marie then joined the Sam Choy’s team as General Manager and led her team to transform the restaurant to what is now, Sea Grill. In 2011, she and her business partner opened the B & G Pacific LLC a local company known for institutional food services and catering. The new business flourished and in 2016 B&G opened Three Squares Restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Marie is also the Managing Director for Everything Guam LLC, which produces the Latte Stone and Sling Stone cookie lines which can be found in several stores on island. Everything Guam prides itself on gourmet, locally made cookies. These iconic latte stone shaped cookies are hand dipped in chocolate and are made by a team of local bakers with the goal of perpetuating the CHamoru culture through food. Marie currently sits as board member for the Guam Chamber, Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association, Co -Chair for the Food Safety task force, member of the Soroptimists of the Marianas and Past President for the Rotary Club of Guam. Marie is the mother to 5 children and 3 grandchildren and is a parishioner at Blessed Diego San Vitores Church.

Dean Huntsman is the general manager for Dusit Thani Guam Resort and has more than two decades of experience in the travel and hospitality industry. His responsibilities include overseeing the performance, strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the 419-room property which includes a world class portfolio of food and beverage offerings, Devarana Spa and the Guam Convention Center. Huntsman has managed sales, business development and marketing teams around the globe -- including Oman, Indonesia, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Australia. He has worked as director of operations with the Jumeirah Group and served as the hotel manager of the Jumeirah Essex House in New York City. His hotel management career began in Switzerland, where he attended the prestigious Les Raches Hotel Management School. Huntsman is married to Charlotte D. Huntsman.

Sudipta Basu earned his bachelor's degree in hospitality management from Cornell University. In 2016, he was appointed general manager of Guam Plaza Resort & Spa, where he was oversight responsibility for Rootz Hill's Grillhouse, Nana's Cafe & Sails BBQ and Tarza Water Park. In his over 25 years of experience in the hospitality management industry, he has served as the CEO for Baldyga Group and worked for other luxury international hotel brands like Hyatt Hotels Corporation (North America), Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Kempinski Hotels and the Taj groups of hotels. Basu has also opened several restaurants and night clubs in the United States and around the Asia Pacific region. He demonstrates his passion and commitment to the hospitality industry with his active membership in the Rotary Cub of Guam, Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association and the Guam Visitors Bureau. Basu, his wife and two children lived in Maui, Hawaii for five years before moving to Guam and becoming residents of Tumon in July 2011.

  

Tae S. Oh is the president of several different entities in diverse industries and is responsible for the overall corporate direction/decision making among Alupang Apartments Corp. (44 units), Alupang Residence Vacation Rental (10 units), Ivy Educational Services (After-school Tutorial), Shell Merizo (Service Station), Vantage Commercial Plaza (Commercial Retail and Office Rental), Vantage Advertising (Digital Billboard and Media), UNIO Commercial Plaza (Service Station and Commercial Plaza) and Proposed Apartments (136 units). Oh leads efforts to locate, source and select projects that the company will be involved with. He is a seasoned developer with experience in the rehabilitation of retail, commercial, multifamily properties. Because of his previous experience in diverse industries, he has comprehensive knowledge in government policies and regulations on Guam. As an active member of the business community, Oh is involved as chairman of the Guam Land Use Commission; board member of the Talo Verde Estates Home Owner’s Association, the Rotary Club of Guam and the Guam Korean Chamber of Commerce; and member of the Guam Chamber of Commerce, Society of American Military Engineers and Guam Contractors Association. He has been instrumental in the development of the vacation rental legislation, as well as the digital billboard sign law. As a local developer, he has extensive experience in negotiating and dealing with Department of Land Management, Guam Economic Development Authority Qualifying Certificate Program, Guam Visitors Bureau, 34th Guam Legislature, Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association and other government entities.

Bartley A. Jackson, the president of Hotel Santa Fe Guam, will sit on the board for the Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association this year, with over 10 years of experience as a member of the board of directors. He has also served on the Guam Chamber of Commerce and Guam Visitors Bureau boards of director, and has been an elected director of GVB seven times. On the GVB board, he sat concurrently as the chairman of the Korea Marketing Committee and the Russia and New Markets Committee. Jackson spent 21 years with the Pacific Islands Club and left the organization four years ago to pursue other endeavors. Foremost among these was hotel ownership. He is now part of the ownership group of the Hotel Santa Fe Guam. Jackson serves as the general manager and president of the hotel. He is also the chief operating officer of an institutional and commercial food service provider — B&G Pacific LLC. After completing college at the University of Virginia in 1980, he worked for Club Med, a Parisbased resort company. Originally hired as a snow-ski instructor in Colorado, he went on to work in such exotic locales as Switzerland, Mexico, Guadalupe, Haiti, Sicily and Greece. After leaving Club Med in 1983, Jackson earned a master’s in business administration from Columbia University in New York. He worked in the securities industry until he joined the management team of PIC Guam in 1990. While on Guam, Jackson was chairman of GHRA’s Human Resources and Education Committee. In 1994, he transferred to PIC Saipan as its general manager. In Saipan, Jackson was a twice-elected member of the Marianas Visitors Authority board of directors and a founding member of the Northern Marianas College Tourism Learning Center Advisory Board. In 1999, Jackson was a member of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands softball team, which won a gold medal at the South Pacific Games held in Guam. He and his wife, Rita, have made Guam their home and live in Tamuning. They have two sons, Jacob and Jonathan.