'If Brand South Pacific is a step in the right direction, what the region urgently needs is a hotshot champion. A gifted conductor who can weave the individual charms of the three sub-regions into an alluring symphony for the global tourist...'


A major international tourism conference focused on the Pacific Islands region last month once again highlighted how far behind the South Pacific region is when compared to other similar markets across the world.

Aviation, hospitality, travel and tourism experts as well as potential investors from all over the world who had gathered in Vanuatu for this event, all agreed that the region as a whole has a lot of ground to cover in almost every aspect of the industry vital for its collective economy. 

In order to better package any product offering, it is important to understand how people from different parts of our fast changing world view it. Travel operators from the United States, the European Union and Asia shared how holidaymakers from those parts of the world view the South Pacific.

Sure, most people believe in the 'Paradise on Earth' tag that has so successfully been cultivated and conveyed over the decades: Pristine beaches, exotic cultures, diverse natural beauty, friendly people and so on. This image is indeed the biggest drawcard and is the region's unique selling proposition.

But in an increasingly demanding technology-driven world, the region falls woefully short in a number of factors that vitally contribute to the overall 'tourism experience' that the seasoned tourist and holidaymaker from anywhere in the world has come to expect-even take for granted.

To begin with, the various destinations of the South Pacific are not adequately differentiated, leading to the perception 'if you've seen one, you've seen them all.' Even if they were differentiated with a marketing campaign that spelt out the different experience that Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia offer, convenient air links connecting the three sub-regions are virtually non-existent, thereby restricting the South Pacific experience to a solitary island nation and defeating the very exercise in product differentiation.

It has been known for decades that bad air links between the islands have greatly undermined the tourism potential of the region as a whole. Hundreds of millions of tourism dollars are lost every year simply because a tourist who, for instance, is after a variegated South Pacific cultural experience-simply cannot hop from say, Noumea to Apia or from Port Vila to Nuku'alofa, or from Port Moresby to Tarawa without flying circuitously at a tremendous expense of both money and time. Not many tourists in this century have that kind of time to spend, even if they have the money.

Time and again the nations of the South Pacific and the region's airline industry have met to discuss plans for a truly regional airline that would fulfill this vital need. But all attempts so far have simply failed to take off. In all these decades, the Pacific Islands Forum countries have not been able to duplicate the great success of their cooperation in the shipping industry, formed along similar lines so many years ago.

But shipping and aviation are hugely different industries whose success is governed by completely different sets of factors. One significant factor that stood in the way of viability of a regional airline was one of capacity and range.

Existing aircraft are too big and expensive to cater to the comparatively thin routes and even too big to land at some airports. The smaller ones are too small to travel long Pacific distances.

That problem seems to have been addressed by the regional jet concept-50 to 70 seat fuel-efficient planes-that can be flown without losing money even at half their capacity and  can be turned around quickly.

Aviation experts at the conference explained how such small jets are revolutionising the aviation industry in many parts of the world fuelling runaway growth in tourism and how the same can soon happen in the South Pacific given the right conditions.

The concept has already taken root in Australia and it is only a question of time before they begin flying to South Pacific islands destinations and, more importantly, hopping between them. 

When that happens-and it does not look too far away-tourism in the region would undoubtedly take a quantum leap. But would the rest of the tourism industry be prepared to meet the challenges of this blitzing growth? Not if one goes by some of the observations of the package tourism experts from Europe and America.

According to them, the perception of most tourists who return from South Pacific destinations is that most tourism activities in the islands are restricted around resorts. There is little else to do outside. Both choice of food and quality of accommodation leave a lot to be desired and are seen as too expensive.

Shopping and other activities that tourists routinely look forward to such as nightlife and avenues for a variegated holiday experience are severely restricted. The experience therefore offers far less value for money than other comparable destinations across the world.

Happily, there is now some earnestness in developing a collective brand for the South Pacific region on the lines of how some South East Asian countries have successfully banded together pooling financial and infrastructural resources to form a single brand and deliver a well-coordinated though variegated cultural experience within a short duration for the global tourist.

If only the countries of the South Pacific would cooperate in a similar fashion, there would be impressive symbiotic growth that would contribute handsomely to the regional tourism bottom-line while adding valuable tourist dollars individually to the islands themselves.

If Brand South Pacific is a step in the right direction, what the region urgently needs is a hotshot champion. A gifted conductor who can weave the individual charms of the three sub-regions into an alluring symphony for the global tourist who is after a quick break packed with exotica of great variety.

Of course, none of these initiatives will ever work if the region as a whole does not seem to be what it actually portrays itself as: the ultimate peaceful paradise on earth. Sadly, events last year have given the lie to that valuable, long-cherished regional attribute-again and again.