8 Jul 2011

Polamalu visit seen as American Samoa tourism boost

2:56 pm on 8 July 2011

The American Samoa Visitors Bureau says the publicity generated by the visit of American Footballer, Troy Polamalu, has helped American Samoan tourism.

The Executive Director of the Bureau, David Vaeafe, expects that the mileage from having a well-known figure on island would help draw attention to the territory's potential as a tourist destination.

The bureau was involved in the Team Polamalu football camp for high school players and coaches.

Mr Vaeafe says the Team Polamalu camp also falls in line with the bureau's goal of attracting sports events to be hosted in the territory.

"Events like this grow our niche in sports tourism. For example, you google now, Samoan NFL players, you get 8.2 million results, so these guys are really putting the territory and the Samoan islands on the map. So it's a huge buzz for us. It's a win-win situation."

David Vaeafe of the American Samoa Visitors Bureau.