Transcript
SIMON MILNE: I think absolutely it's a possibility and I think all we really need to do is look back into the past before the various political issues and problems emerged. Back in 1998 the industry was closing in on 20,000 visitors a year and people were talking about it as potentially a next sort of boom area for Pacific tourism. And now since that time we've obviously seen numbers drop back radically and have no gotten back to where they were. We're sort of sitting around 23,000 visitors at the moment in terms of air visitors. I think there's no question that there's the potential and the opportunity to build a tourism industry and the fact that it's perhaps had a period of stagnation is obviously a negative thing but it also means that the Solomons can learn from some of the mistakes and errors that have perhaps been made elsewhere in the region and move forward with the industry.
DON WISEMAN: 23,000 is tiny isn't it? To sustain it and be a big player and sustain it they need to be talking about far more people don't they?
SM: Well in relative terms if we look at a place like Vanuatu, for example, you're looking at close to 100,000 visitors a year and that's post Cyclone Pam. They're still working their way back. obviously Vanuatu has sizeable numbers from the cruise sector - a couple hundred thousand a year, so they're a long way behind Vanuatu as perhaps their nearest neighbour and competitor. When you look at the Cook Islands they get 150,000 a year. So they've got some way to go. Their building from a small base. I mean there's no question that the initial challenge is to build those numbers of visitors and also find ways for them to move beyond the confines of Honiara to get people to places like Munda. To find ways to expand the benefits of tourism, out of that core Honiara hub.
DW: What comes first, is it that visitors start arriving and then business start to develop, or is it a case of build it and they will come?
SM: I think it's a mixture of the two. If you look at the Solomon Islands at the moment there's no question that there is a need to focus on marketing, to build awareness and perhaps counteract some of those perceptions from the past. This is an area where there has been conflict or a place where it's not safe to travel to and i think most people would agree that's not a problem now. But the issue is to build that visibility and awareness among the public and there's no question in terms of building demand you also need to look at supplying so investment in relatively new properties in Honiara, we've seen new hotels developed we've seen new boutique accommodation and new tour and experience-type operations opening up. On top of that you've got broader issues. It's about infrastructure, it's about a broader government awareness of the value of tourism. It'd about building up human capacity. There needs to be workforce as tourism numbers grow and the industry begins to invest in more accommodation, in more visitor experiences. There needs to be a labour force to back that up as well.
DW: it's a long, slow process, isn't it? So the government isn't going to be able to look to tourism to plug the hole of something that is left by the end of logging, not for a long time.
SM: Well, I think the thing to focus on here is hat with any kind of new investment in the sector in the economy you do have to look at a period of time for things to be in. Tourism numbers are growing substantially around the world and I think there is no question that there are new markets emerging including places like China which are showing massive amounts of growth in the Pacific at the moment. Those bring challenges, but also opportunities. So yes, numbers are not suddenly going to rocket up to the levels that we see in the Cook Islands, or even Vanuatu, but they can grow significantly from a small base. They represent an important way to create business opportunities and opportunities for the labour force . It's not going to be a straight replacement for logging, as you say, in the long term but it certainly represents the best medium and long-term solution for the economy. I guess one of the concerns over the years, has been, to a certain extent what impact logging would have on tourism in the future. So that fact that logging is slowing down could perhaps be opened up to some greater opportunities for tourism in those areas that have perhaps not been perhaps devastated by that activity.
DW: New Zealand has a significant amount of money of its aide budget in recent years developing a second international airport in Western Province, there are commitments by Foreign Minister Murray McCully for tourism-related activities and the New Zealand aid programme has been looking at these and you've been involved in that.
SM: Yes, my involvement is focused primarily on a phase that is going to be starting soon to try and understand more effectively the economic impact of tourism and how it can be grown to maximise economic opportunities for local people and how we can better understand new opportunities for product development. I think the critical thing is the spend that has been conducted to date has, as you mentioned, been focusing on, on the west, it has been focussing on greater connectivity. There's no question that, to benefit from tourism the Solomons will have to out that time and effort into domestic travel connectivity there are many local airstrips that need to be sealed and brought up to standard and I think there will be other opportunities for other donor agencies overseas to get involved in those phases of development. There's no question that as the industry moves forward we will need to look at things like the cruise sector, for example. It's not about airlines and air travel, cruise is also a possible area for development. i wouldn't be surprised to see a bit of a mix in the future as we move forward between air travel and the cruise industry. Both need time to develop. Both are relatively new and emerging products, but the potential is certainly there.
