An industry with great potential
By SAMSON SADE & RONALD TOITO’ONA
SOLOMON Islands have been rated as a country that has so many potentials for tourism development.
But the unequal shares and spoils of the industry throughout the country are evident and one can tell that there is more that needs to be done to make tourism here reach its full potential.
Star National Magazine has toured most parts of the country and has noticed the varying stages tourism development is at some of the provinces of the Solomon Islands.
It is obvious that tourism in the Western Solomons is developed and is at an advanced stage compared to the rest of the Solomon Islands including Eastern and Central Solomon Islands such as Temotu, Makira/Ulawa, Renbel, Temotu, Isabel, Central Islands and Malaita Provinces.
This is due to many different factors which the provinces and the operators are facing.
There is still a great need to improve tourism in Makira and this is one of the biggest needs for the tourism operators of the province.
With huge potentials and lots of attractions for tourism in the province, the hope to see the growth of the industry is enormous.
Some of these huge attractions are bird watching, surfing, diving, bush trekking, visit to historic sites, and many more.
The Makira-Ulawa province which is situated east of the Guadalcanal Island is one of the more isolated island provinces of the country.
Speaking to Star National Magazine, one tourism operator from the province said land, scenery, cultural experiences, trekking, bird watching, potential scuba sites, game fishing, surfing have the potential to put the Province as a hottest tourist destination, but the lack of assistance is still a barrier.
Santa Anna is host to the last remaining fully intact shrine in a village setting across the Solomon Islands and in the whole Pacific Region.
Star Harbour is well known for surfing.
Tawaroga in Star Harbour has the longest left hand break in the Solomon Islands, surfed even by the touring Quick Silver team in 1998 with a good number of world ranked surfers.
Bauro and Wainoni areas are homes to some of the largest endemic bird species in Solomon Islands.
Fishing on Bio and Three Sister Islands is perhaps one of the best in the Solomon Islands.
During a visit to the provincial capital in October, Star National magazine was informed by the Provincial Government’s tourism desk that the province is not forgotten in tourism development.
Provincial Tourism Officer, Doris Raumae said a proposed plan is currently put together which will commence with an awareness and visitation program throughout the province.
Following that, promotions will be conducted for the planned annual events such as the Banana Festival in September and the Wogasia, the ‘Spear Fighting’ Festival in May.
Other additional annual events are the Makira Second Appointed Day in August 3rd and the World Food Day on October 16th.
“In marketing the activities and events abroad, the Provincial Tourism Office will be creating a Facebook page, liaise with the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) and the media to promote these annually celebrated events,” the Provincial Tourism Officer said.
Ms Raumae said that some of the short term goals for her office are to conduct trainings on Accommodation, Revenue and Tourism site management.
She continued to say that she is counting on drawing both technical and management expertise from stakeholders for the success of the program.
A conservation program to help clean up the KiraKira Township is also proposed and that is yet to be finalized.
Meanwhile, Ms Raumae said that a major project that awaits implementation is the establishment of the Makira Tourism Information Centre that would oversee all tourism activities in the province.
Situated on the Island of Rennell in the Renbel Province is Lake Tegano.
The lake is one of the famous and largest lakes in the insular Pacific and is listed as a World Heritage Site.
The island lies 236 kilometres (147 mi) south of Honiara and 1,900 kilometres (1,200 mi) north-east of Brisbane.
The provincial capital of Tigoa is at the western end of the island.
Recently, there has been a fall in the number of tourists or visitors to the World Class tourism destination.
Locals have blamed the decreasing visitor arrivals on the costly charges of accommodation and transportation.
One tourism operator told the Star National magazine that past tourism operators were to be blamed for the sudden fall in visitor numbers.
“When they think that they are rich or already rich, they tend to overcharge their guests through accommodation, meals, and lake services.
Cost and charges to access basic transportation and boat services on the lake are inflated so much so that they deter tourists from visiting.
“Therefore, tourism in the lakeside is suffering because of such unregulated costs and charges,” Fred Manava, a school teacher said.
Speaking of his past experiences Mr Manava said that due to the unforeseen situations surrounding the expensive accommodations, meals, and transportation, the local operators’ reputations were tarnished almost possibly beyond repair.
Whilst Renbel is grappling with its tourism dilemma, Kia district of Isabel province is enjoying a steady but slow growth in tourism.
The industry is a new concept and is still in its infant stages.
Hence the people need to be educated to fully grasp and enjoy the benefits such development entails.
A local politician and tourism operator William Teller, who owns the famous Noguna Homestay in Kia, says that he is venturing into the industry with little to near no knowledge at all of the industry.
Speaking to the Star National Magazine, Mr Tella said tourism in Kia is kicking off at a good start.
“As we go along, we will learn along the way. This is like, a new sort of industry for us, and we do not really seem to understand how it works,” Mr Tella said.
“But looking at the potentials here, we do have what it takes to bring in visitors from all over the world to our side of the country,” he said.
“For Noguna, we did not really take in any overseas guests since we have started.
Only local visitors are accommodated on the lonely island. There are a lot of bookings but there are no confirmations yet.
“Apart from this, we have another two or three homestays here in Kia,” he added.
Mr Teller thought that tourism is just about building an accommodation for visitors to come and enjoy their stay without knowing that it requires a lot of hard work.
He said that he never knew that there are requirements to meet before any homestay can be built let alone operated.
“When we heard that the tourism industry is big money, we tried to build accommodations that will best suit the visitors’ taste of experiencing life here at Kia with little consideration to the time and money component of such enterprise,” the heavy smoker Politician iterated.
Asked about the provincial government’s view on the tourism industry in Isabel province, he said that the current government is very supportive in taking the province’s tourism sector to the next level.
The local Politician said that the Province used to have a tourism officer who was assigned the responsibility of educating and helping both potential and fully-fledged operators in the province.
“Amongst other things, he visited and identified tourism potential sites including bird watching, snorkeling, surfing, and conservation,” he said.
The MPA for Kia ward also mentioned in the interview that tourism operators and those in Kia that wanted to become operators do really want to know more about the industry.
This has prompted them to request tourism officers of the province, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) to pay them a visit to help grow the industry in the province.
“I am sure, they will be willing to assist us with more awareness and training to better our tourism services at home,” he said.
Asked about the possible expansion of the Noguna Home stay, Mr Tella said he is happy with the current level of operation and will ponder further developments as and when he sees fit.
Mr Teller said that further expansion very much depended on the visitor numbers which in turn determined by a well-executed promotion of the services they have on offer.
