VIEWPOINT: BEYOND FISH AND COCONUTS: TRADE AGREEMENTS IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

(Island business) A recent study carried out by BAV, a consultant company from New Caledonia, reveals that Vanuatu could be exceeding the 100,000 visitor mark by 2010Bulk of these visitors are from New Zealand and Australia and they contribute to the expanding tourist market in Vanuatu, which grew by 19% in 2007, confirming a strong trend over the last 4 to 5 years. This growth rate is higher than the general statistic for the South Pacific region, which has seen an overall increase in customer traffic over the same period of around 4,1%.In a context that is marked by the predominance of Australia and New Zealand as the source markets across this region and where the Asian and American source markets are in decline, Vanuatu is profiting greatly from its geographic proximity to these Pacific countries which enables it to set up short and medium-haul flights that tourists are mostly looking for these days, due to the increasing cost of air travel. This situation entails one major drawback as Vanuatu is now 90% dependent on Australia and New Zealand markets. Bav’s study reveals that in 2008, Vanuatu received nearly 90,000 visitors by air compared to 50,000 during the last four years.“Forecasts lead one to envisage that the 100,000 visitors per year mark will be exceeded in 2010. This growth rate is mainly due to Vanuatu’s skies being opened up to competition. The arrival of the low-cost airline, Pacific Blue, and the increased number of departure points in Australia like Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, has turned the tourism scene completely upside down in the space of 4 years,” Bav’s study states.New Caledonia is now Vanuatu’s third largest source market, with 8500 visitors in 2007. The number of visitors has doubled in 4 years. Traffic from European markets, notably from France, is still less than 5% of overall volume. The New Caledonian market, as regards Vanuatu, is characterised by the great mobility shown by New Caledonians who make over 100,000 person/trips per year, over half of which are to a single destination of Australia.The tourism sector contributes 17.8 billion vatu to the country’s economy and represents 20% of GDP. It also employs 4,700 people. In a dynamic economy with an estimated average annual growth rate of 6.8% between 2008 and 2017, the tourism sector looks likely to carry greater weight.In terms of what it has to offer tourists, although it is a destination that offers a combination of interests and attractions with a well preserved traditional culture and natural environment, beaches, Tanna volcano, the nangol and exoticism, able to entice a very broad spectrum of potential visitors, Vanuatu has not yet managed to find and exploit these strong points with a clear marketing concept that is easily understood. These trumpcards together provide Vanuatu with a marketing positioning that is unique in the region, allowing it to envisage strong, suitable development in tourism.—By Hilaire Bule