THE Three Dubai-based tourism entrepreneurs who previously visited Solomon Islands have identified ten ideal islands in the country for tourism development.
The entrepreneurs are Alessandro Rosso, an Italian tourism professional known internationally for developing the world’s first 7-Star hotel, three award-winning resorts in the Maldives and many other tourism operations, Pietro Scanavino, an Italian tourism and hospitality professional and Mohamad Shambi Mohamad Albloushi Emirati, an entrepreneur and associate of Mr Rosso.
This was revealed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Bunyan Sivoro.
Mr Sivoro told the Tourism in Focus 2023 summit in Honiara that the entrepreneurs talked to the owners of the islands on how they could work together in planning their development.
“In fact, they have identified 10 sites and they now have more information about the sites.
“They already are talking to the landowners.
“Most of the identified island are registered land so they are talking with the title holders on how they can work together to plan their development.”
The high-profile visit by the Dubai-based entrepreneurs followed Solomon Islands participation in the Dubai World Expo 2020.
Mr Sivoro said the visitors spent ten days in the country scouting for the best sites and visited the Western, Central Islands and Guadalcanal provinces with the company of MCT officers.
The MCT Permanent Secretary said their trip to Solomon Islands was significant in that Mr Mohamad Albloushi was the first Emirati to have his visa granted on arrival in Solomon Islands, a result of the diplomatic agreement signed between the Solomon Islands Government and United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, MCT and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have already started the profiling and promotion of tourism investment ready sites in Western Province.
Similar work will be carried out in other provinces, starting with Guadalcanal and Central Provinces under the Accessing Land for Tourism Investment Facilitation (ALTIF) project which is funded by Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
By LACHLAN EDDIE
Solomon Star, Honiara
