Taking tourism out of Apia

Travel & Tourism

IN Western Samoa, the Tourism Council of the South Pacific (TCSP) has been working with European Community funds to help villagers develop a starting block for tourism

outside Apia.

\ ii i the complex, to be known as the Vavau Village Hotel, will consist of six sleeping Tale” (traditional Samoan i -ij- ■ , , , buildings with columns) and a reception area. It will be located about 45 minutes drive from Apia.

According to Jan-B Bjarnson, project economist with the TCSP, the small, middle range accommodation complex would offer an alternative to tourists, who in the past had been unable to find accommodation outside Apia.

The village resort will be better than budget accommodation, but cheaper than major hotels in Apia. It will also be one of the few resorts to incorporate the [ale, or traditional style of building using timber pillars.

The project has been designed to test the concept of a village owning and operating a tourist accommodation facility. According to Bjarnason, the village had to show its commitment to the idea by contributing 5W595,000 up front, through a bank loan. The village

has provided the land, and one-third of the project cost of about SWS4OO,OOO.

T ... . , i ’ , Vl , a^f rs . W 1 J° irou g ai > es an P™ Vl ? § entertain " lent for guats. 1 he landowners will receive about 30 to n . r D . *° H °V m ° f ne >',L But the benefits already have surfaced m expert ence and skills, and construction work ’

Twelve villagers also attended the TCSP’s annual training courses in Apia in November and December last year, where they were instructed m front office operations, restaurant and bar service, housekeeping and other relevant skills at basic > intermediate and supervisory level, Bjarnason said the idea was to train the trainers. The TCSP also will provide operational guidelines and a promo tional brochure, Bjarnason said, Construction on the village complex started in September last year, and the f ma j training by the team is scheduled for

August. Completion has been delayed

because of delays in shipping of imported materials, and construction. The site also had to be changed from the village of Lotofaga to Vavau, after the people there decided they did not want their ancestral beachfront taken up by the scheme. □