Vanuatu Tourism On The Rise

Early this month, the Vanuatu Tourism Office jetted off to Australia to take the Vanuatu Tourism Australia roadshow across the country. Inviting more than 400 travel agents to three events held in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, the evening events were designed to engage local agents with interactive games and activities that showcased Vanuatu's destination offering.

According to Adela Issachar Aru, Vanuatu Tourism Office's Chief Executive Officer, the roadshow was carefully curated to increase agency knowledge of the country, while raising awareness of the exciting potential of the island destination.

Prior to the events, Ms Issachar Aru commented, "The 2018 roadshows will concentrate on strengthening the profile of Vanuatu within the Australian market through not only educating and informing but providing the chance for front line agents to build one-on-one relationships with local operators, in turn opening up opportunities for considerable growth."

This year's roadshow event was held after a continuous increase in Australian tourism to Vanuatu. Adela Issachar Aru expressed the importance of these industry events in continuing to propel visitor numbers.

"Australian visitation in 2017 was up 17.33 per cent on 2016 figures, which is fantastic to see, and there has been a united effort by operators on the ground and the industry in Australia to grow these figures. In 2018 we are forecasting visitation to Vanuatu to be up 20 per cent on 2017," said Ms Issachar Aru.

And in more good news for the island nation, tourism growth is expected to continue with the January lease of one of Nauru Airlines B733 planes. Air Vanuatu's consequential capacity to increase flights is substantial.

"We are very confident this extra capacity will boost our national tourism development and help our efforts in continuously promoting the destination abroad," said Ms Issachar Aru.

Vanuatu Tourism has also committed significant funds to promotional activities in Australia and New Zealand over the coming years.

(31st May 2018)