Dev Nadkarni
THE PAST TWO YEARS HAVE SEEN TOURist numbers surge in Vanuatu. Two events that are believed to have played a significant role in this spurt are the country being named the happiest place on earth in 2006 and the coup in neighbouring Fiji in December that year.
With over 50,000 arrivals in the first quarter of this year, numbers are expected to exceed the 100,000 mark by the end of 2008 (these numbers include arrivals by both air and cruise ship).
Thanks to the government’s open skies policy, there has been a steady increase in the number of flights coming into Vanuatu from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands. Direct flights into Santo have also added to tourist numbers.
The national carrier, Air Vanuatu, recently acquired a larger Boeing 737 aircraft to cater for the increased traffic and has entered into codeshare arrangements with other airlines such as Solomon Airlines.
The Vanuatu Tourism Office plans to get at least 100,000 visitors by the air route by year 2010, says its general manager Annie Niatu. Arrivals by cruise ship accrue little to the local economy as these tourists spend nights onboard offshore and have relatively fewer avenues to spend money compared to tourists that come by air and stay in hotels and resorts.
Tourism contributes 40 percent to the country’s revenue and accounts for 75 percent of the foreign exchange revenue earned. Yet, according to the Vanuatu Hotels and Resorts Association (VHRA), the government has not yet thought it fit to allocate a separate minister for tourism, bunching this important portfolio with others.
It hopes the new government elected last month led by Prime Minister Edward Natapei would take this issue on board, said VHRA President Tony Burns.
Despite the rise in tourist numbers, government funding support for promotion has faced a cut from 150 million vatu to 100 million and VHRA member establishments plan to come up with up to a third of the annual budget by charging a 100 vatu per room night levy on customers.
The country’s aviation department also supplements the budget by charging a provincial tax at domestic departure points for provincial destinations. Occupancy at the association members’ 1366 rooms has been satisfactory these past two years but the industry is faced with high operational costs and a shortage of trained personnel.
This has somewhat been addressed by the setting up of the European Community-funded Regional College of Hospitality Management. Several new graduate trainees have found ready employment in the industry with 12 of them working for the Warwick Group’s up-market Le Lagon Resort on Efate.
The introduction of a second mobile phone operator this year has also seen communication costs drop by as much as 30 percent, say association members. But power costs remain extremely high and severely strained operational costs. Over 50 per cent of Vanuatu’s visitors come from Australia followed by New Zealand, New Caledonia, the United States and the rest the Pacific. The average stay is an impressive 7.7 nights and as many as 71.5 percent visitors come as tourists. Vanuatu visitors have a very small VFR component since very few ni Vanuatu live and work outside the country, says Niatu.
VHRA looks forward to greater investment in the sector, particularly in the outer islands where it sees great potential in developing adventure and lifestyle resorts. Investment in the sector both from Australian and New Zealand entrepreneurs has registered impressive growths in the past few years and several new resorts have come up and older ones refurbished.