Tourism is vital to Vanuatu’s growing economy. VSA’s volunteers are helping rural Ni-Vanuatu develop small, sustainable tourism ventures to supplement their subsistence lifestyles.
Facts and figures
- Tourism represents 40 per cent of Vanuatu’s GDP but only employs around 2.5 per cent of the Ni-Vanuatu population.
- Expatriates currently receive around 46 per cent of tourism revenue.
- Currently around 80 per cent of all tourists stay in the capital, Port Vila.
VSA's sustainable tourism programme is all about spreading things around and helping Ni-Vanuatu throughout the country develop their own sustainable tourism projects.
Jump-starting Vanuatu tourism
“Tourism is a big priority for the Vanuatu government,” explains VSA’s Programme Manager (Vanuatu), Diane Thorne-George. “The aim is to try to create a more equal spread of tourism throughout the country – at the moment most tourists are only going to Vila.” Read more about VSA volunteers working in Vanuatu tourism.
Photos from the field
Check out this photo essay from Mandy Brown, living and working in Port Orly as a Research and Development Assistant with the Department of Tourism.
VSA volunteers work with local entrepreneurs to develop and market tourist attractions such as restaurants, bush walks and beaches. Read about the Torgil training restaurant, where out-of-work young people are becoming sought-after hospitality professionals.
The work that VSA’s volunteers are doing is helping all Ni-Vanuatu get a bigger slice of the tourism pie, and to get cash flowing into remote communities.
- Peter Swain, Pacific Programme Manager
Meet some of the people involved in Vanuatu tourism
Bule Withnol is an entrepreneur who set up Ransuk Cultural Village with the help of VSA volunteer Karen Henry who worked as a Tourism Business Adviser with the Department of Tourism in Santo.
Linda Bennie is a Hospitality Trainer and Adviser with the Sanma Provincial Tourism Association. Linda's husband and fellow VSA
volunteer, Jim, works as Tourism Business Development Adviser with the Department of Tourism. Read about their arrival in Ambae.
Kalmer Vocor is the owner of a local tourist accomodation business in Santo. His passion and flair for tourism is truly an inspiration. “In my view tourism is the best income earner for our people. And it’s working – I’ve proved that it’s working!”
Howard Iseli was a Tourism Business Development Adviser with the Department of Tourism. Previously a business consultant in Auckland, his business meetings in Vanuatu were mostly held in the bush, not in cafes.
More
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