About Us
Welcome to American Samoa Pocket Guide, your ultimate travel companion for exploring American Samoa. Founded by Robin and Laura, American Samoa Pocket Guide is a labour of love and passion for sharing the hidden gems of these breathtaking islands.
Our Values
At American Samoa Pocket Guide, we’re not chasing likes or superficial trends on social media. Instead, our mission is anchored in delivering factual and insightful information derived from rigorous research, firsthand experiences and unwavering journalistic integrity. We’re here to assist travellers from all backgrounds in planning their journey to American Samoa, going beyond the allure of pretty photos to offer practical guidance.
Our core values form the foundation of our work:
- Empowering Local Tourism Businesses: We strive to promote local tourism enterprises, advertisers or not, recognising their invaluable contributions to American Samoa.
- Comprehensive Representation: We present our readers with a complete overview of tourism operators and accommodations. That way, they have diverse options that suit their preferences and needs.
- Inclusivity: Our platform caters to travellers, no matter your nationality and socio-economic background, providing a range of options to facilitate enjoyable experiences for all.
- Informed Decision-Making: We empower travellers to make informed decisions by offering transparent and unbiased information, enabling them to craft personalised itineraries that align with their interests.
- Sustainable Travel: We advocate for a positive relationship between travellers and destinations, emphasising the importance of environmental conservation and social responsibility in travel experiences.
- Thorough Fact-Checking: Our team consists of seasoned journalists who thoroughly fact-check all the information we receive. We personally experience most activities and services ourselves to ensure we provide accurate firsthand insights.
More about our standards can be viewed on our Editorial Standards Page.
Why Trust Us For Your Trip to American Samoa?
American Samoa Pocket Guide isn’t just another travel website; it’s built on real, on-the-ground experience. Our team spends 1-2 weeks in American Samoa every year, staying in accommodations, taking tours and testing travel services first-hand to ensure every recommendation is worth your time.
Our Journalistic Approach
We meet strict journalistic standards, fact-checking every detail and keeping our content up to date. Unlike AI-generated articles or crowd-sourced reviews, our insights come from genuine research and professionalism, because great travel advice should be as reliable as it is inspiring.
Trusted by Credible Organisations
Government organisations like the American Samoa Visitors Bureau trust us to provide accurate, independent advice. We’ve also partnered with the Pacific Tourism Organisation since 2019. These partnerships help us bring you the most up-to-date and credible travel information.
Trusted By Our Readers
With thousands of readers each year, American Samoa Pocket Guide is American Samoa’s most trusted travel resource. Don’t just take our word for it: glowing reviews on Trustpilot and social media prove that travellers rely on us to plan their dream trip with confidence.
On the Ground Experience
Not only have we travelled American Samoa extensively but we return for 1-2 weeks each year, ensuring we always have a pulse on the tourism landscape.
Journalistic Standards
Our team are qualified journalists, bringing professionalism and a more objective perspective on travel experiences in American Samoa. See Our Standards page to learn more.
Government Partnerships
We work with official sources, including the American Samoa Visitors Bureau and SPTO, to ensure our advice is something you can rely on.
Readers Feedback
According to our readers' survey across all of our Pocket Guides, we have 95% reader satisfaction rate. We're pretty pleased with that, and we love to hear about ways we can improve.
Next Level Readership
American Samoa Pocket Guide is still pretty new, so we're still waiting for stats on our yearly readership. In the meantime, our Pocket Guides for other nations enjoy over 10M readers each year. That's a fair few people who like what we do.
4.6 Stars on Trustpilot
The best people to describe who we are and what we do are our amazing website readers and YouTube viewers. See what they have say (and have your say) over on Trustpilot.
Our Collaborations: Working with the Best to Bring You the Best
At American Samoa Pocket Guide, we’re proud to have strong relationships with a diverse range of organisations and companies, from nationally recognised institutions to small family-run businesses. Whether it’s partnering with major government bodies, such as the American Samoa Visitors Bureau or working with independent operators, we’re passionate about creating authentic, reliable and accessible content for travellers.
Partnering with Institutions
Our collaborations with institutions allow us to pass on vital information, such as government policies, regulations and conservation initiatives, in an easy-to-understand and engaging way. From detailed articles on our website to information-rich videos on our YouTube channel, we ensure their messages reach and resonate with our audience.
Supporting Local Businesses
We equally value our partnerships with smaller operators, including “Mom and Pop” shops and boutique companies. The American Samoan tourism industry wouldn’t be what it is today without these incredible businesses for us to showcase.
A Growing Network of Partners
American Samoa Pocket Guide is in its early stages of development but we can't wait for the privilege of working with local organisations and businesses across American Samoa, creating a collaborative ecosystem that helps travellers plan unforgettable experiences while staying informed about the country’s tourism landscape and travel regulations.
Our Team
(The awkward part where we write about ourselves).
Robin and Laura, alongside a team of dedicated travel writers, spearhead our efforts to provide travellers with a comprehensive and authentic travel guide.
Their experience of extensively travelling American Samoa each and every year, combined with an honorary journalism background, brings a wealth of knowledge and insights to American Samoa Pocket Guide.
Laura (Editor-in-Chief)
Laura is the content wizard behind American Samoa Pocket Guide. A trained journalist and editor-in-chief of five additional travel guides for the South Pacific and the South Pacific Pocket Guide YouTube Channel, she ensures that your eyes and ears only receive content of the highest standard. Learn more about Laura.
Robin (Operations Manager)
… And unofficial “Travel Manager”, Robin knows all things logistics when it comes to planning a trip to American Samoa. He consistently liaises with key stakeholders in the local tourism industry and relays vital information to viewers/readers on both American Samoa Pocket Guide and our YouTube Channel. Learn more about Robin.
Plus, learn more about the rest of the team behind American Samoa Pocket Guide over in our Authors page.
Our Sustainability Commitment
At American Samoa Pocket Guide, we believe responsible travel starts with informed choices. As an SPTO-recognised guide, we showcase all options but prioritise:
- Eco-conscious operators
- Locally owned tours and accommodations
- Reducing over-tourism by promoting lesser-visited areas
Beyond travel recommendations, we take action:
- Our servers run on fossil-fuel-free energy
- We are lifetime members of the Samoa Conservation Society
- We minimise travel impact by researching locally and batching research trips to avoid unnecessary flights
- We contribute to environmental and social initiatives across the South Pacific – learn more in our regional guides found at SouthPacificPocketGuide.com
Sustainability isn’t just a commitment – it’s how we operate.
The Story of American Samoa Pocket Guide
Our labour of love began in 2014 with a clear mission: to sustainably guide travellers across the South Pacific. Here’s our journey:
- 2014-18: Launch of NZ Pocket Guide and Fiji Pocket Guide – Our first South Pacific Pocket Guides
- NZ Pocket Guide, formerly BackpackerGuide.NZ, was our first travel guide created for the South Pacific.
- We focused on sustainability and low impact from the outset.
- The site grew rapidly, reaching over 250,000 travellers in the first year, defying our expectations and showing a working proof of concept that could be applied to smaller South Pacific regions.
- With this shift in focus, Laura went from solely creating content to building a flexible travel writing team and a fact-based editorial line. In the meantime, Robin got a web-dev team together to expand our travel guide expertise beyond New Zealand.
- We launched Fiji Pocket Guide, expanding our reach to other Pacific nations.
Our journey continued with a focus on partnership and local engagement:
- 2019-2020: Local Partnerships and COVID Adaptation
- This was the first year (of many!) we partnered with the SPTO to promote sustainable tourism in the Pacific.
- We launched Niue Pocket Guide and Tonga Pocket Guide in collaboration with local governments.
- We ran small-scale sustainable tourism programs, which were incredibly fulfilling in Tonga and Niue.
- COVID-19 hit, so we updated our content to reflect the changing landscapes of travel during the pandemic.
Skipping to post-pandemic and looking to the future, we’ve not slowed down, continuing to share the beauty of the Pacific:
- 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and beyond: Launch of American Samoa Pocket Guide and Continuous Engagement
- We launched Samoa Pocket Guide and Cook Islands Pocket Guide.
- Working with the American Samoa Visitors Bureau, we conducted our first extensive on-the-ground research, covering both Tutuila and the Manu'a Islands.
- American Samoa Pocket Guide is still under development and will be officially launched by September 2025...
And, of course, we are looking forward to more adventures and guides in the coming years.
Whether you’re an adventure seeker, a nature enthusiast, a cultural explorer or simply seeking a tranquil retreat, American Samoa Pocket Guide is your biggest source of American Samoa trip-planning information with a projection of more than 150 articles. Join us in creating meaningful connections between travellers and this breathtaking destination. Free. Independent. For everyone.
To become a contributor, advertise or provide feedback, please refer to our Contact Page.