Melanesians miss

out on tourists

PATA, its annual conference and especially during “Visit South Pacific Year ’95,” is enthusiasti cally received by Polynesia and Micronesia. But the region which has the biggest reservations - if not outright scep ticism - about its current South Seas focus is the area which has the least visitors and development - Melanesia (excluding Fiji).

In particular, the Solomons and Vanuatu have a wait-and-see attitude towards

Pata.

“We ... probably had some problems with PATA ... We felt that we haven’t ... really been recognised and getting a lot of benefits from PATA ...” confesses Linda Kalpoi, administration manager of the National Tourism Office of Vanuatu.

As to whether PATA’s Pacific push gen erates more tourists to the Solomons, William Haomae, Minister of Culture, Tourism & Aviation responds: “It is hard to say at this stage. But it is one of the points that I’ll be looking very closely at The Solomons has one of the smallest hospitality industries in the South Pacific.

According to Haomae, since 1988, the Solomons has received 12,000 visitors each year. Nevertheless, he states, “We regard tourism as important to the econo my ... At the moment, our country’s for eign reserve is based mainly on logging ... and if we are going to forego that, the alternative is tourism.” He says, “There are less than 500 hotel rooms. I’ve been given a mandate by Cabinet to build 1000 rooms by 1997... The private sector is the engine for growth for the tourism industry,” and he wants “more foreign investors coming to build other hotels”. Main properties include the Honiara Hotel, the Mendana and Tambea Village Resort.

Haomea calls the Solomons’ “a diver’s delight”. “Most tourists go to the western Solomons for diving and sport fishing. The war wrecks are attractions,” as 1942’s Battle of Guadalcanal is a 1990 s money maker attracting sightseers. According to the minister, other unique attractions include the environment. “We have the largest lagoon in the world, the Marovo lagoon ... Rennell Island has the largest lake in the South Pacific.” Haomea cites “cultural diversity” as another draw; the Solomons’ Pan Pipers are one-of-a-kind dancers and musicians and the nation’s woodwork has a distinctive flair and

craftsmanship.

For Linda Kalpoi, “Vanuatu’s rich and diverse culture” is also her country’s main appeal for its 45,000 tourists per year. “We have the world’s most accessible active volcano at Tanna. Vanuatu also has the original bungee jumping - the Pentecost land-dive. We have very good sites for div ing. Santo has one of the world’s largest intact wrecks from the Second World War, the President CoolidgeT In addition, dur ing WWII Tales of the South Pacific author James Michener was stationed at Santo.

Kalpoi stressed, “Vanuatu is the real South Pacific; it’s where the romantic Bali Hai’i story came from.”

Kalpoi says, “We have more than 20 hotels, with three major hotels, which are now being improved for higher standards.

Our room numbers are 700.” She adds, “Tourism in Vanuatu is very important because it is our major foreign exchange earner ... contributing to 20 percent of the government’s revenue budgets.”

Papua New Guinea has a relatively small number of tourists - since 1986, only 40,000 per year. “In the past, PG has not given importance to tourism mainly because it is very rich in terms of resources. It has very large mining and forestry resources ... Tourism is responsi ble for about three percent of DP,” admits Dr P.K. Basu, assistant director of Planning & Development of PNG’s Tourism Promotion Authority. However, the economist hastens to add, “But the sit uation is changing very rapidly. The gov ernment is giving very high importance to tourism now.”

Dr Basu says, “PNG has about 5000 hotel beds, which vary from five-star hotels to wilderness lodges. We try to pro

mote village-based guest houses more than five-stars now. We try to encourage a totally different type of travel - adventure tourism. PNG is considered one of the best places in the world for diving, plus there’s trekking, bush walking, bicycle riding, mountain climbing ... special interest tourism - bird watching and we have the largest butterfly in the world ... And we have a tremendous culture-based tourism.

PNG is one of the most exotic destinations in the world.”

Aviation is “one of the problem areas we have,” Dr Basu laments. “Air New Guinea and Qantas are the only interna tional carriers. We fly to Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila and the Solomons, the only places which connect from PNG. Soon, Japan will be connected directly with PNG. Already, New Zealand- PNG and PNG-Thailand air service agree ments have been signed. In Indonesia, new routes have been opened. You can go to Bali via PNG now.”

Solomon Airlines is Honiara’s domestic and international national carrier, with flights to Nadi and Brisbane. Air Nauru, Air New Guinea, Air Pacific, and Qantas also fly to the Solomons. Haomea says he is “discussing building a terminal at Henderson Airport with Japan. “We are looking at how the national carrier can raise its profile in terms of tourist arrivals.”

Kalpoi says her country’s national airline is Air Vanuatu, which flies directly to Sydney and Auckland. Air Pacific and Air Caledonie fly from Nadi to Vanuatu.

Vanuatu’s target markets include New Caledonia (which just joined PATA), with its large French expatriate community.

Europe, Australia, New Zealand, America and Japan (WWII veterans are a speciality market) provide the region with most of its visitors.

But as Melanesia turns towards the great tourist hope, a number of problems may keep the number of travellers down.

The Bougainville revolt may remain a flash point discouraging travel to the Solomons and PNG. But Eva Leatham, acting chief executive of PNG’s Tourism Promotion Authority says: “Bougainville is not a prime tourism destination; it is not on the mainland.” Dr Basu, likewise, maintains that “the rascals are near the urban harbour areas, not where tourists stay,” and that while the recent volcanic eruption “damaged the town at Rabaul, it is not a tourism product”. The burning of Anuha resort due to a land dispute presents problems for the Solomons.

According to Kalpoi, the road to a suc cessful travel industry involves “the South Pacific countries getting together more and working together and pushing them selves as one country, so we can get more people to come to the islands and they’ll do some island hopping... in a whole pack age ... We should be working together.”

Reefs are a great attraction for tourists.