28 Oct 2009

Samoa's Hotel Association says resorts are suffering due to cancellations

11:39 am on 28 October 2009

Samoa's Hotel Association says many resorts that have been spared by the tsunami suffer as tourists have stopped arriving.

There were mass holiday cancellations or amendments after the tsunami hit Upolu's south coast.

Samoa's tourism industry is now rolling out campaigns in New Zealand and Australia to attract tourists back.

The association's chief executive officer, Nynette Sass, commends the effort.

"We look forward to the campaigns. It's just to bring some clarity to the potential market that it's not the whole country that's affected. But even they guys who were not physically affected are now affected because of the cancellations. It would be great if people would keep their bookings and come to Samoa."

Nynette Sass says a team assessing the damage to resorts in the devastated area, is due to report back in a couple of weeks.