But there's pressure on accommodation

Dev Nadkarni
The Samoa Tourism Authority (STA) normally considers the month of September as being in the very middle of the country's low tourist season. But this year it was different: anyone who visited the country that month will tell you how difficult it was to find accommodation, particularly in Apia.

STA's Matafeo

Close on the heels of the annual Teuila Festival, which STA has been aggressively promoting over the last few years to shore up visitor numbers during the lean season, two regional conferences and a workshop that were scheduled back-to-back had Apia's hotels full with delegates and tourists.

“This is by far the busiest season we have seen,” says Matafeo Lesaisaea Reupena Matafeo, STA's general manager. “And to think that we regard this as the low season!”

Though the agency operates on a S$2.8 million budget that includes all operational expenses, its marketing campaign particularly in Australia and New Zealand, where it has offices, seems to be paying dividends. The number of visitors is expected to cross the 100,000 mark for the first time this year (some 98,000 visited the country in 2004).

This is despite a drop in the number of visitors from Samoa's biggest tourism market-neighbouring American Samoa-due to the Samoa government's insistence on a visa for visitors from the American territory. Samoa's move is in retaliation to American Samoa's introduction of a visa requirement for Samoan visitors earlier this year.

Tourism minister Keil

While Matafeo puts the decline at 5 to 6%, Samoa Association of Manufacturers and Exporters (SAME) president Papali'i Grant Percival says the drop has been as much as 27%. But Matafeo is hopeful visitor numbers from other parts of the world will more than make up for this shortfall.

With earnings of S$195.8 million in 2004, the tourism industry is only second to Samoa's largest revenue earner-repatriations by Samoans living overseas. This figure is an all-time high for Samoa's tourism and a 21% increase on the 2003 revenues.

In recognition of the growing trend over the past few years, the government has been working towards facilitating both local and international investments in the industry.

For instance, it has passed legislation (the Hotels and Tourism Incentives Act) that facilitates duty-free imports of hospitality industry-related equipment. This has now been extended to small players who can avail of duty waivers on imports of commonplace items like furniture and fabrics for their motels and even beach fales.

An amendment to the Customary Land Act earlier this year has made land acquisition for hotel developments easier, says Matafeo.

Consultations have also been underway for some time now on a strata title legislation (similar to the one in the Cook Islands). But it is anybody's guess when it will actually be legislated because land issues being what they are, could turn out to be a political hot potato-especially in an election year.

But these moves have yielded results. Aggie Grey's upscale 150-unit resort at Faleolo is up and running (except for one of its key attractions, the 18-hole golf course).

The resort is completely booked until after Christmas. International chain Warwick Hotels has already announced the development of two beachfront properties (at Faleolo and Vavau). A few other significant developments are also coming up across the island of Upolu.

“The government is streamlining procedures for getting overseas funding for the tourism industry,” says Minister for Tourism, Industry and Labour, Hans Joachim Keil.

These and smaller projects will perhaps add another 500 rooms in the next few years, taking Samoa's room tally to about 1500 from the present 1000, says Keil.

There are fears that pace may be a little too slow. Beginning late October, Polynesian Blue (the joint venture budget airline between the Samoan Government, Virgin Blue and a minority shareholding with Aggie Grey's) began flying five Boeing 737-800 planeloads of tourists from Australia and New Zealand each week.

And with Air New Zealand and Air Pacific's existing flights into Apia, one begins to wonder if that adds up to too much metal flying into the tiny country too soon, putting immediate pressure on accommodations. “There will be 13 to 15 flights a week come November,” says Keil.

“Destination and packaged marketing will ensure that congestion does not happen in hotels,” says Mandy Simpson, managing director, ANZ Samoa. “Besides there is a host of small hotels coming up all over Apia.”

Small hotels have indeed sprung up across Apia, including a glitzy chrome-and-glass place reminiscent of the small budget hotels that dot the business districts of towns in South East Asia.

South Pacific Tourism Organisation's (SPTO) technical adviser Ross Hopkins also feels congestion may not be immediately serious. “Tourism will increase following low cost carrier operations. See the success Fiji and Vanuatu are having.

“However, the Samoa market is a bit different; it is more focused on visiting friends and relatives and is not so geared towards the mass market at the product end. The effect on tourism will be more limited partly due to the nature of the market and partly because of a shortage of high quality hotel rooms,” he says.

National Department of Statistics figures confirm this scenario. From January to June, only 35% of the total visitor arrivals stayed in hotels, against 53% that stayed in private accommodation.

Matafeo, too, is not unduly worried about the heightened perception of quality accommodation shortage, following Polynesian Blue's low fares announcement. “Cheap fares feed the family visit category and the backpacker and home-stay end of the market,” he says.
He adds that this is the fastest growing segment of the tourism market.

But is Samoa geared for this segment? STA has aggressively wooed beachfront property owners to set up beach fales.

It has also published guidelines and established standards for beach fales on both Samoa's islands.

Beach fale entrepreneurs are eligible for credit facilities from the government and duty free concessions for the import of furniture, furnishings and equipment. STA's team visits these establishments to ensure quality standards are maintained.

Mayple Vui

Beach fale operators in Upolu and Savai'i that ISLANDS BUSINESS spoke with said occupancy was consistently high. Senior citizen Mayple Vui, who runs the Joelan Beach Fale on Savaii, said she had 100% occupancy for months and pointed to a stretch of virgin beach where she was contemplating building another dozen units.

Beach fales have been attracting a greater number of tourists in recent times from the United Kingdom and Germany, in addition to those from the South Pacific's two big neighbours-Australia and New Zealand.

The ANZ Bank-sponsored Samoa Tourism Conference seems to have brought about greater awareness of the country's tourism potential among Samoans.

“It provided a good forum for discussion of some of these issues and for people to consider what needs to be done to develop tourism further,” says Hopkins.

Explaining why ANZ sponsored the conference, Simpson says the bank recognises that tourism is a key sector for the country to go forward.

“Samoa is a differentiated product, has a unique culture and offers a great opportunity,” she says.

Matafeo agrees the conference helped raise the level of awareness on Samoa's potential locally.

“The participation by local operators was excellent. It helped create an understanding of the tourism policy and brought financial institutions and entrepreneurs together. The idea of teamwork, of working together was an important message,” he said.

The conference may also have highlighted some lacunae in the way the country manages its tourism and what it could do to bring itself in line with the more high profile destinations of the world.

“There is a need to raise the standard of accommodation and services to cater for a higher yield tourism; there is a still a lot to be done on educating people on the benefits and importance of tourism,” says Hopkins.

Like in many other small Pacific Islands states, trained human resource is scarce. Matafeo says the STA realises this.

“We do a detailed training needs analysis regularly,” he says. Working with the Samoa Polytechnic, the STA has already designed a curriculum on hospitality subjects both at management and trades levels.

In addition, hospitality employees attend SPTO workshops (such as the one that followed the conference) and are sent on attachments overseas to be trained in online booking procedures, product development and delivery of services.

Among other initiatives are a multi-lingual website (Japanese and German) and a contact programme that aims at establishing links with the travel industry in China, Japan and the North American continent.

Canine capers One of the major points of discussion at the tourism conference was the canine menace that has been plaguing Samoa for some years now. The number of incidents of dogs biting tourists has reached worrying proportions. Newspapers carried letters by foreign tourists who wrote about their harrowing experiences. One village-Manase on Savaii island-has banned dogs in the village and its surrounds, thereby ensuring a safe environment for tourists staying at its many beach fales. Other villages are being urged to do likewise. The issue has grown serious enough for the minister of tourism to announce during the conference that he is enlisting the services of law keepers to rein in the runaway canines!

Samoa has recently attracted the attention of a few medium-sized players from America who have tried exploring one of Samoa's offshore islands for a hotel and casino project.

“There is no legislation under which such a project could be considered,” says Keil. “Besides, there could be opposition from the Church.”

There is no denying that Samoa's great diversity of landscapes, secluded beaches, lush rainforests, unique culture, friendly people and many other unique attributes make for ideal ingredients for the perfect exotic tourist destination.

But the country should be cautious not to go overboard in wooing numbers larger than it and its superbly pristine environment can sustain or handle.

The country's industry would also do well to acknowledge and work towards meeting the basic needs of the global tourist-good accommodation and hygiene standards, better and easier access to communication facilities and freedom from the growing fear of the canine menace.