SAMOA: Tourism Grows In Samoa

The government is serious about its commitment to attract more tourists.

Part of that commitment is hosting the annual Samoa Tourism Exchange which ended last night.

The exhibition provided a platform for hoteliers, airline companies, car rentals, inbound tour operators and others to show the variety of what they offer with the hope to boost the number of travelers to Samoa.

The General Manager of Stevensons at Manase, Megan Bradney, enjoyed every bit of the exhibition.

“It gives the travel agents an idea of how things are in Samoa in the tourism sector, so that people can formulate and decide where they want to spend their holidays, not only in Upolu but also in Savai’i,” said Megan.

“This is a great way of showcasing Samoa to the rest of the world. This is a great opportunity for hoteliers both from Upolu and Savaii to show and get the word and name out there for people to know.

“It helps us to get the name out and also one-on-one appointments with the providers and buyers so we can tell them a bit about each hotelier has to offer and also an update of where things are.

“For us at Stevensons, this is an opportunity for us to tell our providers where we are now and update them with work that we do. We’ve built new villas and we are almost finished with our infinity pool.”

Fa’aso’otauloa Paulina Theresa Schwalger from the Sesilia’s Bayview Bungalows shared the same views.

Sesilia’s Bayview Bungalow is located on the Lava field at Saleaula Savaii.

“For us, we always look forward to the Samoa tourism Exchange as it gives us the opportunity to showcase and tell other buyers about our place, location and what we can offer.

“It provides a platform for us to show and promote our work with the hope to getting more tourists and visitors in the future.
This is also a good opportunity for hoteliers and local business owners in this sector to learn from one another on how to improve our work especially with our service to the people.”

Laura Wadsworth, Global Sales and Marketing Manager for Samoa Scenic believes the exhibition was a great way of growing tourism in Samoa.

“I think it’s very important because it showcases Samoa to the world; there are a lot of people coming here to Samoa from a long way, like France, Germany, Korea, Japan and others.

“There are markets that are here in Samoa for the first time and what we are getting from them is that they are happy to be here.

“They said their customers are now looking at somewhere different to visit in the Pacific; most of them have been to Fiji, obviously they go to Australia and New Zealand and they are looking at somewhere different and that’s why it is important that we are having this Tourism Exchange.”

She went on to say that the travel agents from overseas have been giving nothing but positive feedback about tourism in Samoa.

“They all love Samoa, the scenery and most importantly they love the people.

“They love the hospitality and what they’ve said to us is that they are glad to see that tourism hasn’t changed the way Samoan people live.

“They say Samoan people are still holding on to their culture and traditions.

“So for us here at Samoa Scenic, we are going to be dealing with these people directly to be a one stop shop for them booking their accommodations, and other things.

“We are very happy that we have this tourism exchange as it is a great way of growing tourism in Samoa.”