Vanuatu builds a tourism school funded by EU


The timing to showcase its tourism potential could not have been better. When Port Vila was abuzz with news that more flights were bringing in more tourists particularly from Australia and New Zealand following Fiji’s unfolding crisis, came the European Union-Proinvest funded ‘Profit in the Pacific’ conference in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

New tourism school takes shape in November. The school is complete now. Pic: Dev Nadkarni

Experts from the tourism, hospitality and aviation industries besides potential investors from across the globe gathered for the event that was organised and managed by PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association). For many of these industry decisionmakers, Vanuatu was their first taste of the South Pacific—their curiosity amply whetted by the country’s ranking as the world’s happiest place.

But reactions of most of the industry experts ISLANDS BUSINESS spoke with were that it was not merely enough to have great, pristine locations.

Infrastructure both in terms of accommodation and flight connections were as important for the modern-day tourist. Service standards are also getting more demanding with each passing tourist season. Vanuatu—just as much as the rest of the Pacific—has a lot to be desired on these fronts. The general feeling was that the Pacific was simply not good value for the tourist dollar when compared to other comparable exotic locales elsewhere.

Fortunately, some of these issues may be addressed professionally pretty early. Close on the heels of the conference where a number of letters of intent were reportedly issued for partnerships in tourism projects across the Pacific, the European Union announced probably its most significant move to boost the hospitality sector in the region so far. It injected a whopping 280 million Vatu for the consolidation of the new Vanuatu Tourism Education and Training Project at the Vanuatu Institute of Technology.

The facility is housed on a smallish plot in Port Vila but is undoubtedly modern. It is fully fitted out with a kitchen, bakery, butchery, chocolaterie, guest rooms, housekeeping facilities, laundry and front office, simulating a real-life hotel environment. Classrooms, digital instructional equipment and staff quarters cater to an intake of 12 students at a time.

The institute has signed MOUs with hospitality training institutions in Australia, New Zealand and Mauritius and will be manned by a complement of 15 trainers, each an expert in their different areas of expertise.

Harmon Chellen

Front Office students will learn the ropes on a real-life online reservation system like Amadaeus. “This institution will perhaps be the first in the Pacific Islands region of its kind.” says Harmon Chellen, Training Adviser from Mauritius who is heading the project in Port Vila.

The institute will ultimately form part of the Australian promoted Pacific Technical College and students from all over the region will be trained here. Scheduled for a February 2007 launch, construction and finishing were proceeding at a hectic pace when ISLANDS BUSINESS visited the facility in early December.

This is perhaps the first serious attempt to bring service industry training in the hospitality sector up to speed in the Pacific Islands region—a move that should go a long way in quality human resources development in a sector so vital to the economies of the islands.