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Most Newsworthy Pacifc Items

© Larry Low

Pacific Islands Table of Contents

The South Pacific Tourism Organization estimates that almost 10 percent of visitors to the region are divers. In 2003, the SPTO estimated that 98,000 divers visited the South Pacific. The major dive destinations in the South Pacific are Fiji and Tahiti, followed by Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. However, Fiji accounts for almost half of all dive visitors. The United States,Australia and France provide a signifcant percentage of divers. The really shocking statistic uncovered in this study of this segment of the visitor market is that the Pacific accounts for a mere 1.7% of the global diving market.

South Pacific Tourism Organization

The report concludes that the region has a competitive advantage in the dive sector, due to the pristine marine environment and relatively undiscovered nature of the islands.

A more expansive study of Pacific tourism is coming up in February. The Tourism Investment Conference is to be held in Fiji, February 1-4, 2005. The keynote of the conference is Profit in the Pacific. The South Pacific Tourism Organization is providing technical, marketing and logistic support. The conference planners are aiming to have as many as 200 participants eager to examine a range of potential Pacific tourism undertakings. One of the main goals of the event is to bring together major tourism players from Europe and introduce them to the major Pacific entrepreneurs. There will be extensive national tourism reports available so that interested parties will be well supplied with tools to determine if proposed projects are worthwhile being taken to the feasibility study phase.

On September 27, 2004, The World Tourism Organization, which has called for increased air service to developing countries, signed an agreement with The World Route Development Forum to co-operate in exploring new air routes for tourism. This subject is slated to come up at the Fiji conference in February 2005. As an example of the difficulties that Third World countries experience in attempting to develop their tourism infrastructure, the Cook Islands have a very solid tourist plant in place but tourism could be a much more lucrative generator if the Government of the Cook Islands had the capital to expand the runway at Rarotonga International Airport, the only paved strip in the country. A major expansion from its present 2,328 metres to a length that would permit Boeing 767 aircraft to fly non-stop to Los Angeles would do wonders for the growth of tourism in the island nation.

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