https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

RESILIENCE
THROUGH CRISISTOURISMSTORIESPA C I F I C
2022https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Contents

Acknowledgements

3

Forewords

4

Introduction

7

Ainuu Tupai Saleimoa Vaai, Owner and Managing Director of Va-I-Moana Seaside Lodge | Savaii, Samoa

8

Bob Bates, Managing Director of Trans Niugini Tours | Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea

16

Edelene Albert, Owner of Yogi Dives B&B | Koror, Palau

24

Eretia Monite, Hotel Owner of Tarabuka Hideaway Lodge | Buariki (Tarawa), Kiribati

32

Kaboua John, Hotel Owner of Terau Beach Bungalow | Abaiang, Kiribati

40

Kasimiro (Kasi) Taukeinikoro, Director of Rivers Fiji | Southern Viti Levu, Fiji48

Setareki Ledua, Captain of the Drua Experience | Viseisei, Fiji55

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Acknowledgments
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) would liketo thank its partners, the Asia-Pacific Tourism Exchange
Centre (APTEC), the UNWTO Regional Support Officefor Asia and the Pacific (RSOAP) and the Pacific Tourism
Organization (SPTO) for their diligent coordination andsupport. Special recognition is made to Rachel Jonesand Andrew Cavallaro from HELM and their associates
for the implementation of this project.
The UNWTO Tourism Stories for the Pacific publicationand video series would not have been made possible
without the collaboration and investment from thefollowing key contributors:– EmmaCampbellTourism Fiji

andStephanie

Robinson,– Robert Ah Sam and Sheena Ng Lam, Samoa Tourism
Authority

Acknowledgment is further due to UNWTO, RSOAP and
SPTO colleagues for their coordination and involvement.
For
UNWTO
and
RSOAP:
Harry
Hwang,
Hompo Yoshiaki, Suzuki Hiroko, Marcelo Risi, Ishizaki
Katsuhisa, Alcinda Trawen, Orianne Derrier, Marian
Magsino, Junko Yoshida, Alberto Garcia, Juliana Contreras
and Alba López Gete.
For SPTO: Chris Cocker, Christina Leala Gale, Zaheer
Hassan.
Finally, UNWTO would like to show its uttermost
appreciation to the champion storytellers of this project:
Ainuu Tupai Saleimoa Vaai, Bob Bates, Edelene Albert,
Eretia Monite, Kaboua John, Kasimiro Taukeinikoro andSetareki Ledua.

– Sarah Teetu Reymond, Kiribati Tourism Authority– Alice Kuaningi and Joel Keimelo, Papua New Guinea
Tourism Promotion Authority– Ms. Onorina Fugawai, Pacific Trade Invest Australia

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

3

Foreword

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

World Tourism Organization.
UNWTO is proud to present ‘UNWTO Tourism Stories for
the Pacific, Resiliency Through Crisis’, a project which
illustrates the resilience of the travel and tourism sector
in the face of crisis through the voices of the unique andresourceful Pacific Islands nations.
As the world slowly begins to recover from the pandemic’s
unprecedented impacts on our societies and economies,
tourism’s role in supporting livelihoods and contributing
to the advancement of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) has regained momentum. This is especiallytrue in Small Island Developing States such as the PacificIsland Countries who rely heavily on the export revenues
generated through international tourism.
The seven stories presented in this book and its
accompanying video series are vibrant testimonies ofingenuity, determination and solidarity from across thetourism sector. Through their own unique experiences,each storyteller offers a window into their lives: showing
how important tourism was for them and their community,
the challenges brought about by the pandemic and how
they managed to overcome them, often with a renewed
passion for tourism and a determination for sustainablegrowth.

4

These Pacific voices you are about to hear bring us hopeand confidence in the recovery of international tourism
and in the transformative shift of tourism into a more
responsible and resilient sector. They showcase theexceptional resiliency of the Pacific Islands people andmake clear how the global tourism sector can endure andbuilt back better.
I am sincerely grateful to the Asia-Pacific Tourism
Exchange Centre, the UNWTO Regional Support Office for
Asia and the Pacific and the Pacific Tourism Organization
for their commitment and hard work, without which thisproject would not have been possible.
Zurab Pololikashvili
Secretary-General
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

Foreword

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Asia-Pacific Tourism Exchange Centre.
I am delighted to release this UNWTO Tourism Stories
Pacific book and its video series. As the supporting bodyof the UNWTO Regional Support Office for Asia andthe Pacific, the Asia-Pacific Tourism Exchange Centre(APTEC) is pleased to have contributed in leading thisbeautiful project to fruition.
The challenging times brought by the COVID-19 pandemic
had a particularly strenuous effect in the tourism industryof our Asia and the Pacific region: we lost 94.2% of ourinternational tourists in 2021 compared to 2019. This is
no trivial fact for our Pacific Island neighbours whose
population and economy rely greatly on international
tourism revenue. The stories will give you a good insight
into the hardships met by each of the interviewees from
Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Samoa.
However, the most compelling part in the stories comeswhen our storytellers dig within their Pacific roots,
resilience and strong sense of community to reflect,
plan and rally around innovative ideas in preparation of
the reopening of their country to international tourism.
Many turned to the domestic tourism market to keep theirbusiness running, often merely to be able to sustain thejobs of their employees. Traditional handicrafts along with
agricultural techniques and productions are also a key
feature in these stories, a reminder of the enduring andrich identities one can encounter in the Pacific.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

Finally, sustainable tourism practices are in eachstoryteller’s mind and actions have often been already
implemented to achieve their long-term goals towards
the preservation of their environment and culture, and theprosperity of their communities.
I hope that these voices will appeal to your desire
to travel back to the beautiful Pacific Islands and discoveror re-discover again its diverse cultures and remarkablepeople.
My heartfelt gratitude goes to the World Tourism
Organization and the Pacific Tourism Organization for
their unwavering support and collaboration to make thisproject possible.
Yoshiaki Hompo
President, Asia-Pacific Tourism Exchange Centre
Chief, UNWTO Regional Support Office for Asia andthe Pacific5Foreword

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Pacific Tourism Organization.
COVID-19 has had serious and unprecedented impacts theworld over but its effects on tourism have been particularly
devastating. In the Pacific, the tourism industry is a lifeline
for countless communities, contributing more than 20% ofgross domestic product for many Pacific Island Countries(PICs). The Pacific economy contracted by 5.3% in 2020
and the more tourism dependent economies contracted
from between 8% to as high as 15%. Asia-Pacific has beenrecognized as the hardest hit sub-region, registering an
84% decline in tourism growth, with forecasts predictingthat international tourism will need between two to four
years to return to pre-covid levels.
The general outlook is indeed stark but what it does notaccount for is the resilience of our Pacific people thatdrive the industry. Being at the forefront of climate change,
Pacific islanders have long experienced catastrophic
natural disasters which have in turn dealt significant blows
to Pacific tourism. Yet, time and again, we have rebuilt, wehave stood strong.
The response to COVID-19 has been no different.
Whilst it has undoubtedly crippled economies and brought
tourism to a standstill it has also presented us with a valuable
opportunity to regroup, re-think the future of tourism andre-strategize towards a smarter, stronger, more sustainable
and resilient Pacific tourism industry. It is with this faith,perseverance and optimism that we have weathered the
pandemic and now begin to work towards welcoming theworld back to our paradise, our Blue Pacific.

6

Throughout this e-book you will find truly inspiring stories,of everyday people, the heart and soul of our industry, that
perfectly encapsulate the true Pacific spirit of innovationand strength. From Samoa to Papua New Guinea, Palau,
Kiribati and Fiji, these tourism businesses offer aweinspiring insight into the unique offerings of the Pacificand more importantly the people that characterize Pacifictourism with their determination, passion, commitment,
pride and resilience.
It is our honour to have been able to contribute to thispublication that shares important Pacific stories. We would
like to thank UNWTO, the Asia-Pacific Tourism Exchange
Centre and the UNWTO Regional Support Office for Asiaand the Pacific for initiating and leading this project tofruition. It is my hope that these stories will inspire people
to visit our islands and experience first- hand the magicof the Pacific and her people.
Christopher Roy Cocker
Chief Executive Officer
Pacific Tourism Organization

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

About this book
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit tourism operatorsin the South Pacific the immediate damage wasdevastating. The region shut its borders on international
tourism, an industry with huge export revenue benefits
and socio-economic potential for the Small Islands
Developing States, and its local tourism operatorsand community suffered.
However, this book is proof of the resilience of these
tourism stakeholders. Rather than giving up, closing doors
and leaving the industry that they love, they used the
pandemic to ensure their businesses would return better,stronger and with more sustainable development goals
than they had ever had before.
In the following pages, we celebrate these operators, whoin a time of global calamity, re-evaluated the way they didbusiness to ensure they would come back on top, witha new and refreshed level of cultural and environmental
understanding.
When Fiji’s Drua Experience and Kiribati’s Tarabuka
Hideaway Lodge had to temporarily close theirbusinesses, they used the time to understand more
about their cultural and natural heritage. Drua Experience,a sailing canoe operator, visited communities across Fiji
to learn more about ancient seafaring and boat building
techniques, and worked hard to safeguard this fast-fading
heritage for future generations. Tarabuka Hideaway Lodge
in Kiribati invited its local community to learn and participate
in cultural activities, encouraging more traditional ways oflife, in the hope of becoming more self-sustainable in the
future.

This approach resonated with Trans Niugini Tours in Papua
New Guinea, who also devised alternative strategies andfound success in pivoting to a domestic market. This turnof events enabled them to continue supporting the local
community through the Rondon Road building project andhydropower system.
Other tourist operators sought to promote sustainableagriculture when COVID-19 affected the profitability of
their businesses. Terau Beach Bungalow in Kiribati usedthe downtime to work on initiatives to plan for a moresustainable future by helping shift local agri-tourism
towards organic practices. They led cleaning campaigns
and helped their island achieve 100 percent organic status.
For Va-I-Moana Lodge in Samoa, sustaining jobs while
diversifying skills was at stake as they transferred
employees who had lost their jobs in tourism to work on
the owner’s sustainable cocoa plantation.
Finally, Yogi Dives B&B in Palau took a digital turn with
its own online booking system while exploring sustainable
practices with the production of organic food in its
hydroponic gardens.
We invite you to dive into the following pages to discover
all these stories for yourself. These are true testimonies of
the Pacific region’s resilience, solidarity and cultural pride,paving the way for a brighter future.

Rivers Fiji helped reach remote villages located deep intheir rafting terrain in a vaccination push, ensuring thesafety of local inhabitants. The business also remodelled
its entire strategy to target a domestic audience, which
helped sustain some income and allowed them to continue
the unique conservation co-operative they had helped set
up to protect their river from logging.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

7

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

VA-I-MOANASEASIDE
LODGE

AINUU
T U PA I
SALEIMOA
VAAI

SAMOA

8

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Ainuu Tupai Saleimoa Vaai | Va-I-Moana Seaside Lodge | Savaii, Samoa

On Savaii – Samoa’s ‘Big Island’ –locals use life skills they have earned
from working the land and the ocean
since they were children to get themthrough any obstacle thrown at them.
Whether it be cyclones, sharks in the sea
as they spear-fish or food shortages. But
no-one, anywhere on the Big Island of Savaii
saw COVID-19 coming. And dealing with
its effects has been something no local
had a blueprint for.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

But Savaii has an industrious population –their people have always been survivalists –so they were prepared to fight this new battlewith everything they had.

9

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Ainuu Tupai Saleimoa Vaai | Va-I-Moana Seaside Lodge | Savaii, Samoa

Savaii, Samoa / Coordinates
13.6598° S, 172.4319° W

PA L A U

F E D E R AT E D S TAT E S
OF MICRONESIAMARSHALLISLANDSNAURU
K I R I B AT I

PA P U A N E W
GUINEASOLOMON
ISLANDST U VA L U

SAMOA
COOK
ISLANDS

VA N U AT U
FIJI

TONGA

NEW
CALEDONIA

AUSTRALIA

Like Ainu’u Tupa’I Saleimoa Vaai – owner and manager
of Va-I-Moana Seaside Lodge on Savaii’s spectacularsunset coast. He’s also the owner and managing directorof the Island Grill Bar & Restaurant in Apia – on the more
populated island of Upolu – President of the Samoa
Hotels Association and is on the board of directors for
the Samoan Tourism Authority Board.

10

Saleimoa Vaai depends on tourism more than just aboutanyone in Samoa. Prior to the arrival of COVID-19, he was
happy to be receiving the highest number of international
travellers Samoa had ever seen. In 2019 – immediately
before COVID-19 – Samoa had experienced a 4.8 percent
increase in the number of international tourists from theyear before, with 180,858 international tourists coming toSamoa throughout 2019.

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Pre-COVID, we had about 34 workers
with us at Va-I-Moana Lodge andwe were heavily involved in a lot ofcommunity-based initiatives.

Ainuu Tupai Saleimoa Vaai

“Pre-COVID, for the tourism sector in Samoa we were ona high and trending towards a very good year,” he says.
“Pre-COVID, we had about 34 workers with us at VaI-Moana Lodge and we were heavily involved in a lot ofcommunity-based initiatives. We would always ensure that
tourism was a big part of our lives out in this side of theisland.”RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISISThen in March 2020, as the pandemic began to ragearound the world, Samoa shut its borders to international
travellers. Overnight, international tourism became a thingof Savaii’s past, and the change was hard to swallow.

11https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Ainuu Tupai Saleimoa Vaai | Va-I-Moana Seaside Lodge | Savaii, Samoa

12

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252“To say that (COVID-19) has been challenging is anunderstatement,” Saleimoa Vaai says. “Post-COVID,
we’ve seen a lot of losses job-wise from our own businesses.
I think we’ve lost about three quarters of our employment,
which is quite a lot in terms of losses, especially jobs in
a community like ours where there are not too many jobs
readily available, being so far away from the urban areas”.
He says, “The hardest part was loosing people. And a lot of
our tourism workers, they are more like family.”Though it wasn’t just Saleimoa Vaai and his employees who
were affected, COVID-19’s effects were felt throughout theentire community.
“Pre-COVID, our communities were very involved andconnected to our tourism business because it provided
a lot of our farmers with income, who provided a lot ofthe vegetables and fruits,” he says. “A lot of their produce
comes to us and we use it for our restaurants. The fishingcommunity too, we take in quite a bit of their produce as
well. And a lot of the youth groups, they used to come inand entertain so there were a lot of ties and connections
within our community to our businesses.”
The Va-I-Moana Seaside Lodge was not the only tourism
business on Savaii’s Sunset Coast. There is another hotel,
Vaisala Hotel, and two beach fale operations – all in all,tourism provided a good deal of the jobs on the Sunset
Coast. But when COVID struck, tourism came almost
to a complete standstill, providing zero income for thecommunity.

Saleimoa Vaaiand the Savaii community, at large, were
faced with a choice – to give up, or to come up with away of moving forward through unprecedented economic
times. Saviiaans do not give up, no matter how big thewaves around them, they paddle through every crisis.
COVID-19 was no different.
“I think the tourism sector has been really resilient,”
Saleomai Vaai says. “We had to start looking at otheropportunities for our workers. We knew we couldn’t sustain
and maintain the whole workforce, so we had to look atother opportunities, and that came with a lot of assistancefrom the Samoa Tourism Authority and our government.”
Samoa’s borders did not look to be opening to international
tourists any time soon, so Saleomai Vaai looked at otheropportunities to keep as many of his staff employed as
possible. As co-owner of the Savaii Koko Plantation – which
is Samoa’s largest exporter, including supplying top-quality
cocoa to New Zealand premium chocolate manufacturer,
Whittakers Chocolates (for a product called Single Origin
Samoan Cocoa) – he was able to deploy the majority of
his village’s youth and his laid-off staff to work and harvest
the cocoa plantation. He also transferred some of his staff
on Savaii to spend time in Samoa’s capital, Apia, to workat his restaurant, Island Grill Bar & Restaurant, on theneighbouring island of Upolu. He wanted them to gain extra
skills, and to experience city living in case they needed tomove to Apia for employment later.

Pre-COVID, our communities were very
involved and connected to our tourism
business because it provided a lot of
our farmers with income, who provided
a lot of the vegetables and fruits.
RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

13

Ainuu Tupai Saleimoa Vaai | Va-I-Moana Seaside Lodge | Savaii, Samoa

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252“We started a program whereby we are putting out someof our workers through RSE (Recognised Seasonal
Employer), not only in the tourism side of things but also
in the agricultural side,” he says. “Agriculture is part of ourlives here in Samoa, especially in the rural communities.”“We moved a lot of our workforce around to our otherbusinesses, so coming and working at the restaurant inUpolu, to give them a bit of experience in terms of thedifferences in paces, where the business moves from arelaxed atmosphere that we have in Savaii, to the hustle
and bustle of the urban areas of Upolu. Not only that, we
moved a lot of our workers out towards the agriculturalside of our business with the cocoa, teaching them various
skills. This decision was primarily based on a financial
perspective, where myself and my wife sat down and said
we need to do something: it’s either we close down our
tourism side or put it in hibernation, or we relook at how
we can redirect our resources, especially our people.”
Saleimoa Vaai says, “We’ve really changed the waythat we operate, to ensure that we can survive what’s
happened with Covid, but also build ourselves up to be a
bit more resilient to when these kind of events happen.”“I think we’ve had to change the way we think in tourism
and how we do things because I think collaboration is
now the key,” Saleimoa Vaai says. “I think prior to COVID,
everybody had their own lane and niche markets that they
worked with and they did well. But with the changes that
COVID has brought across, it’s changed a lot of the way
we think and as an industry we’ve had to work together
in more ways than I’ve seen prior to all this. The classic
example is the night market initiatives where we’ve had
to change the way hotels and restaurants and handicraft
people and everyone looks at selling their goods. We had
to combine and change the ways we do things so that wework together. Hopefully when things return to some sortof normality, that partnership and collaboration continues.
That’s hopefully the biggest change that will come out of
all of this.”Above all, Saleimoa Vaai remains optimistic anddetermined. He says, “All we can do, especially at thesetimes of uncertainty and the challenges we are all facing,is bear with it, persevere, as there is a light at the end of
the tunnel.”

To also revive the tourism industry – and to try to booster
local morale and generate income – Saleimoa Vaai
worked in close collaboration with the Samoa Tourist
Association to start a Night Market initiative featuring
hotels, restaurants, small business food vendors,
handicraft makers and plant growers working together
to sell their products at market, while at the same timecreating a fun new family outing for people in Savaii. Withso many countries in lockdown with people confined totheir homes, these sorts of small events were designed
to keep Savaiians’ spirits up. Samoans are, after all, verysocial people.

We’ve really changed the way that we
operate, to ensure that we can survive
what’s happened with COVID, but alsobuild ourselves up to be a bit more
resilient to when these kind of events
happen.
14

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFICRESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

15

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

TRANS
NIUGINITOURSBOBB AT E S

PA P U A N E W G U I N E A

16

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Bob Bates | Trans Niugini Tours | Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea

You won’t find a foreign-born person
in Papua New Guinea who knows
more about Papua New Guinea than
Bob Bates. But then, having spentover 50 years in the country, thesedays you would have to call him alocal.
For the past 35 of his 50-plus years in the
country, this Australian-born engineer has
devoted his life towards establishing themost impressive collection of award-winningwilderness lodges across the country. His
lodges attracted luxury-seeking foreign tourists– mostly from the United States, Australia andEurope – keen to discover the planet’s last
great wilderness, all without missing out on a
hot shower and a gourmet meal.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

He was not only the owner of Papua New
Guinea’s most impressive luxury lodges(including the award-winning Ambua Lodge,
Sepik Spirit Lodge and Rondon Ridge Lodge),
but his company, Trans Niugini Tours (TNT),
was the only inbound operator that not only
owned and managed wilderness lodges, butalso owned its own fleet of aircraft, vehicles
and boats.

17https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Bob Bates | Trans Niugini Tours | Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea

Mount Hagen,Papua New Guinea / Coordinates
5.9000° S, 144.2642° E

PA L A U

F E D E R AT E D S TAT E S
OF MICRONESIAMARSHALLISLANDSNAURU

PA P U A N E W
GUINEAK I R I B AT I
SOLOMON
ISLANDST U VA L U

SAMOA
COOK
ISLANDS

VA N U AT U
FIJI

TONGA

NEW
CALEDONIA

AUSTRALIA

When it came to showing off Papua New Guinea to theworld, no-one came close to Trans Niugini Tours. And then
COVID-19 struck and everything changed in a heartbeat.
International travel was cancelled, and overnight, 95
percent of Trans Niugini Tours’ business disappeared, justlike that.

18“It (the affects of COVID-19) was absolutely devastating,”
Bates says. “We went from a company that had 95
percent of its business from the international market tozero revenue.”

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

We went from a company that had
95 percent of its business from theinternational market to zero revenue.

Bob Bates

Pre-COVID, TNT employed 250 nationals at thecompany’s lodges. They worked in management, foodservice, housekeeping, gardening, security, driving, tours
and bird guiding; and the company also supported local
businesses by buying supplies and using the services of
local suppliers.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

Bates was forced into damage control. With zero revenue,
the company had no choice but to scale down to about
10 percent of the size it was before March 2020. They had
to put off staff they couldn’t afford to keep on: around 200
workers in total. There simply wasn’t any money coming
in to pay them. Most went back to their village to wait
until TNT could employ them again.

19https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Bob Bates | Trans Niugini Tours | Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea

20

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

With no international travellers allowed into the country,
Bates and his team had to think quickly to steer thecompany towards a new marketing strategy whichcatered for a complete change of market. Now, they only
had Papua New Guinea nationals and expatriates living in
Papua New Guinea to aim at.
Bates decided to target the capital of Papua New Guinea,
Port Moresby, campaigning hard to attract this newmarket to his lodges through social media like Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter, digital advertisements and email
marketing, using a staff of just 50.
“We had little choice but to go after the domestic market,”Bates says. “And we did it fairly seriously. We marketedto the domestic market quite strongly, and the result
exceeded all our expectations. The number of people that
we got from our domestic market was far greater thanwhat we expected.”
TNT discovered a whole new way their lodges could beenjoyed by guests. Where international guests came forthe wilderness experience, locals also came to be married,or to have birthday parties. It has forced a rethink for theway TNT does business, even after international tourists
are allowed back into Papua New Guinea.

“There’s a whole new market out there that we nevergot before and we’re getting now,” Bates says. “Thedomestic market could become our main market. And no
doubt, our international market is going to come back.
And the international market is going to be the cream on
the top for our domestic market. I can almost see thattaking place in the future. We have learned that both thedomestic and international markets are important. We will
now market to both groups.”
Though TNT’s pivot towards the domestic market wasn’t
the only initiative to take place during these COVIDaffected years. TNT stayed busy during the entire period,
working hard to ensure they kept as many jobs for locals
as they possibly could. It meant Bates worked long hours,
starting his day at around 6am.
One of the projects he is proudest about is the nearcompletion of the Road to Rondon (though it hasn’t been
officially opened, the road is now accessible) – a roadbuilding project he has funded which employed local
workers to construct a road through the forest to one ofhis signature properties, Rondon Ridge Lodge.
It provides a new eight kilometre road from the centreof Mount Hagen to Rondon Ridge – including theconstruction of bridges – built to replace a walking trackthat existed for people going to town.

We have learned that both the domestic
and international markets are important.
We will now market to both groups.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

21

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Bob Bates | Trans Niugini Tours | Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea

Rondon Ridge Lodge is located on the outer fringes ofKubor Range in the Western Provinces of Papua New
Guinea at 2,350 metres above sea level. This is a wild
part of the country, and getting guests in from the city of
Mount Hagen has been a tricky task.

“During the COVID period, we had a local company
approach us and ask us to put in some beehives, as there
is a shortage of bees in this country. To help pollinate
other produce,” Bates says. “Long term wise, maybe we
can also get some honey we can sell.”

The road building was stalled because of COVID, meaning
workers had no employment, but Bates soon got the
project back up and running.

While he has long considered sustainability an importantfactor in its business operations, the effects of COVID
have made Bates understand just how important caring
for the local community and environment is.

“Once we changed our marketing strategy and started
to welcome national guests, we created the funds tocontinue with the road,” he says. “The work on the roadhas continued as an ongoing project and continues today.
We redeployed existing staff to do this work (on the road).”
The continuation of the road was necessary to keep goodaccess to the lodge, but also to allow the local people to
go to school easily and to travel to and from the townshipof Mount Hagen. There are now buses traveling between
the local community in the Rondon Ridge area and Mount
Hagen. And those with gardens who grow food can now
get their produce to market much easier. Previously, theroad was only a walking track and people had to carry
their produce. TNT has also continued to ensure power
is provided to the local community through a hydropowersystem created by the company.
TNT has worked with a local company since COVID-19
struck in an effort to allow for more sustainability in
its operations, with the addition of beehives added to
Rondon Ridge Lodge.

“Positive relationships with the villages and people areintegral to our success,” he says. “We will continue towork with the local villages and communities, providing
jobs, income, and hydropower. We will also work to bringtourists to the villages so that they become aware of thedifferent customs and purchase local products.”
Bates is even more determined since COVID hit tocontinue to maintain the wilderness aspect of his lodges.
The addition of the beehives – and using solar power,hydropower and filtered water systems in his lodge, andgetting rid of plastic bottled water – has him thinking
more about sustainability to help future generations after
he is gone.
“It was very difficult to suddenly experience zero revenue
and then try and build the business up again,” he says.
“It’s been challenging times but we’re still around andwe’re likely to be in another 40 years too.”

We will continue to work with the local
villages and communities, providing jobs,
income, and hydropower. We will also work
to bring tourists to the villages so that they
become aware of the different customs
and purchase local products.
22

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFICRESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

23

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

YOGI
DIVES
B&B

EDELENEALBERT

PA L A U

24

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Edelene Albert | Yogi Dives B&B | Koror, Palau

Palau local Edelene Albert (Edee)
was getting very comfortable
before COVID-19 hit. The trilingual
yoga enthusiast had travelled theworld before returning to her island
paradise to run a business, Yogi
Dives B&B, in an industry she had got
to know well through her travels.
She started small, running a simple Bed &Breakfast with just one bedroom after she
repaired her mother’s house. She kept working
on the property with the profits she madefrom the business – her room for let waslisted on Airbnb.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISISIn the lead-up to March 2020, she had
worked patiently to increase the number ofrooms to three, and her business was really
starting to take off within an island group known
internationally for the pristine reefs and lagoons
it offers travellers, especially snorkelers anddivers. Her business name – Yogi Dives B&B– reflected which segment of the market she
aimed most at.

25

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Edelene Albert | Yogi Dives B&B | Koror, Palau

Koror, Palau / Coordinates
7.3376° N, 134.4889° E

PA L A U

F E D E R AT E D S TAT E S
OF MICRONESIAMARSHALLISLANDSNAURU
K I R I B AT I

PA P U A N E W
GUINEASOLOMON
ISLANDST U VA L U

SAMOA
COOK
ISLANDS

VA N U AT U
FIJI

TONGA

NEW
CALEDONIA

AUSTRALIA

Palau is an archipelago of around 200 mostly volcanicislands surrounded by a stunning blue lagoon. Diving is
the number one tourist activity here, with its hugely diverse
marine life attracting keen divers by the plane full – it isso diverse and bountiful the islands earned themselves
the nickname: ‘the underwater Serengeti’ after the African
wilderness area famous for its wildlife. Koror is home to
two-thirds of the population here, and it is where you willfind most of the country’s tourist facilities, and its best
restaurants.

26“We had so many more tourists coming in before COVID,”
she says ruefully, thinking back to the days before thepandemic. Then COVID-19 hit the world in March 2020
and the island nation of Palau closed its borders tointernational travellers to keep them safe from the virus.
Her business changed overnight.
“Once COVID hit, the number of tourists coming in wasclose to zero and then got to a point where we had no
tourists whatsoever,” she says. “I really had to take a few
steps back and contemplate what was going on.”TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

It (COVID) made me think about new
innovations and how I could move
forward in the future and how I would
stay afloat during this time.

Edelene AlbertWith the borders shut, there was no revenue fromtravellers to keep Edee going. “It (COVID) made me think
about new innovations and how I could move forward in
the future and how I would stay afloat during this time,”
she says. “It’s so fortunate that our COVID situation here
has been so much milder than any other countries in theworld. I know and understand that a lot of other nations
were facing hardships, we’ve been fortunate to not haveas many COVID cases here.”

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

But Edee could not just sit back and hope COVID would
soon be over – though she says she initially thought theisolation caused by the pandemic would only last a very
short time.
“I realised I needed to make a change the first month that
COVID hit,” she says “But I remember I thought to myself:
COVID is not going to last long, it’ll be over and we’ll beback to normal.”27

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Edelene Albert | Yogi Dives B&B | Koror, Palau

28

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Of course, that was not to be the case. So Edee set
about being as constructive and innovative during COVID
as she could be. She was able to access COVID relief
funds to continue with the repairs and renovations on her
B&B, adding four more rooms to the original dwelling.
She was able to maximise these funds by hiring her
uncle, cousins and some of the locals who were now
unemployed because of COVID to work for her. This way,
she was able to plan for her future, while providing muchneeded income for her family, and for other locals in Koror.
But her plan wasn’t simply to build more rooms – thechanges were all part of a much bigger picture, one inwhich Edee identified a different market would emerge
once people could travel again.
“When COVID hit Palau, I was thinking that sometime in the future people would be travelling on amore economical basis and I needed to address thatissue with my B&B,” she says. “I know that prices foraccommodation are high, especially in the hotels. So,
what I thought about doing was creating a hostel room
where people who are solo travellers, and on a budget,
would be able to visit Palau. I’m now able to providethat service.”
She says, “From the one bedroom I had when I firststarted, I now have seven bedrooms and I am able toaccommodate 29 or more people.”

Yogi Dives B&B now has two whole levels dedicatedto accommodation, including seven bedrooms with six
bathrooms. The B&B with the room offerings she has
been able to now add is the first of its kind in Koror.
What is more, with help from Pacific Trade Invest Australia– through the Digital Tourism program – she has been able
to create a website with a booking engine, so that her
business will be much more visible to outside travellers
when they can return to Palau than it was before COVID.
“I’m so fortunate that I was able to find Pacific Trade
Invest Australia’s Digital Tourism program on the island,”she says. “Their presence here has given me so muchsupport in what I’m doing. I was able to create a website
and with it, they provided a booking engine and a channel
manager for me to be able to market my B&B. The online
presence that I have now is so important for the touriststhat I have coming in to my island.”She has also moved towards making her business moreenvironmentally sustainable in an island nation celebrated
internationally as a global leader in the protection offragile marine ecosystems. Palau has a history of strong
environmental conservation policies, ever since the 1950s
with its creation of wildlife preserves which last to this day.
It even created the world’s first shark sanctuary in 2009 toprotect an asset valuable to its tourism industry – Palau’s
shark dives are famous throughout the planet. Like most
low-lying Pacific nations, major environmental threats likerising sea levels will affect it drastically if nothing is done.

When COVID hit Palau, I was thinking
that some time in the future people
would be travelling on a more
economical basis and I needed toaddress that issue with my B&B.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

29

Edelene Albert | Yogi Dives B&B | Koror, Palau

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

With the help of a friend, she used the open space on
her roof-top after repairs to build a hydroponic farm withenough planting holes for 300 plants. With fresh fruit andvegetables in Palau hard to come by on an island nationthat is just 466 square kilometres in land area, Edee can
now provide guests with their own vegetables straightfrom the garden.
“I love and I have a passion for health and healthy eating,”
she says. “And so I was able to create a hydroponic
system, which I hope in the future would help to build amore sustainable future in terms of produce here at my
B&B place and with my family.”She has planted lemon, papaya and pineapples in her
garden too, which can be frozen to be used for freshjuices when she starts to receive guests again, and she
has planted different herbs to use in her meal preparation.
Edee has also been able to sustain a small income throughthese long months of COVID isolation by providing yoga
classes to the local population of Koror. Where she
once taught yoga and qi gong to international travellers,
she now markets her classes to locals, hoping that themindfulness yoga offers relief, and exercise for locals.

Edee still has a lot of bills to pay from the renovations
and knows that it is going to take some time before tourism
returns to its pre-COVID levels, especially while variantsof the virus continue to play havoc on the industry worldwide. But she is positive that she will soon be able toreceive more guests again, particularly with innovations
such as travel bubbles between countries – the travel
bubble between Taiwan and Palau created in August 2021,
provided income for tourism operators while it lasted,
and may be reinstated soon.
Her property has the tick of approval for ‘Safe For You’from the Palau Government and she has updated her
website as part of local tourism’s ready and recovery
process to make sure guests feel safe in her property.
“I enjoy so much the people I meet coming through to
my B&B,” she says. “I’ve had some wonderful people
come through here. And I’ve learned so much from themthat I will never forget. There is so much potential herewith what the future has to offer. And I think that as longas we stay positive, we can do anything we endeavour
to do. If we continue to look at change in a positive
way, whether it’s COVID or anything else, we will
have a bright future ahead of us.”

I’ve had some wonderful people
come through here. And I’ve learnedso much from them that I will neverforget. There is so much potential
here with what the future has tooffer. And I think that as long as westay positive, we can do anything we
endeavour to do.
30

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFICRESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

31

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

TA R A B U K A
H I D E AWAYLODGEERETIAMONITEK I R I B AT I

Credit: David Kirkland & SPTO

32

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Eretia Monite | Tarabuka Hideaway Lodge | Buariki (Tarawa), Kiribati

When COVID-19 struck the world
and international travellers could nolonger come to Kiribati, local tourism
operator Eretia Monite is the first toadmit: she panicked. “We were veryscared of this COVID-19,” she says.
“We were not sure of what to do, whether tokeep the business running or to close. We werereally, really worried.” For four years Eretia had
owned and ran one of the only accommodation
lodges in Buariki Village, a community of around
1,000 locals, 30 kilometres north of Kiribati’s
capital, South Tarawa. She employed 12 local
staff and 60 percent of her guests came fromoverseas from 2018 to 2020.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISISLife for Eretia had been simple and peaceful
before COVID-19 hit the world: the islandgroup’s glowing reputation for its beaches
and lagoons that offer world-class diving andfishing had kept a steady flow of international
visitors coming through her accommodation.
Visitors spent their days out on the water or justenjoying the simplicity of life in Kiribati. “People
help each other and they share resources,”
Eretia says. “And they live according to what
the day provides.”33

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Eretia Monite | Tarabuka Hideaway Lodge | Buariki (Tarawa), Kiribati

Buariki (Tarawa), Kiribati / Coordinates
13.6598° S, 172.4319° W

PA L A U

F E D E R AT E D S TAT E S
OF MICRONESIAMARSHALLISLANDSNAURU

PA P U A N E W
GUINEAK I R I B AT I

SOLOMON
ISLANDST U VA L U

SAMOA
COOK
ISLANDS

VA N U AT U
FIJI

TONGA

NEW
CALEDONIA

AUSTRALIA

Kiribati is an island nation comprised mostly of ocean –so there were plenty of quiet places for visitors to explore
by themselves. Kiribati is only 811 square kilometresin land mass, but it’s surrounded by over three million
square kilometres of ocean, home to some of the planet’s
best deep sea and bone fishing. Tarawa itself is home to ahuge lagoon – at over 500 square kilometres in size – that
was a popular spot for tourists.

34

Visitors also came to see where one of the biggest andbloodiest battles of World War Two took place – in 1943,
6,000 soldiers died when the US Marines took Tarawa
back from the Japanese forces. Buariki Village itself
marked the final battle – the Battle of Buariki marked theend of the Japanese occupation of Kiribati.

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

I had to be a mother, looking after oneof my daughters who is epileptic. With
the closure of our borders, we had nooverseas guests and no income.

Eretia Monite

But come March 2020, the Kiribati Government closed its
borders to protect its people from a worldwide pandemic.
And overnight, Eretia’s business came to a grinding halt.
With no tourists to accommodate, she had no way ofmaking revenue.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS“The hardest moment was to let go of some of mystaff and to try and keep the business going,” Eretia says.
“We received very little revenue and the saddest partof it was to let go of our staff. I also had to do most of
the work. And at the same time, I had to be a mother,looking after one of my daughters who is epileptic. With
the closure of our borders, we had no overseas guests
and no income. And I could not pay my staff. All of
this made me realize I needed to make a change”.

35https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Eretia Monite | Tarabuka Hideaway Lodge | Buariki (Tarawa), Kiribati

36

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Eretia was at a cross-roads, one that so many businesses
across the world faced: should she struggle to keep goingwith her business, or close up altogether? She weighed
up her options and decided to push on, but she knew
she would have to change everything about the way she
ran her lodge, with no international tourists to attract any
longer.
Realising she now had only a domestic clientele todraw from, she decided to completely change the way
she marketed her accommodation. “A big change wemade to our business in response to COVID-19 was tochange our target audience to domestic tourism,” shesays. “And part of that change was we had to offer very
discounted rates. We also added small business activities
that involved our local community to participate, likecake baking, making local houses, building kennels
and planting and cultivating resilient crops.”
In a time of global calamity, Eretia decided the best way
to deal with the situation was to engage locals to value
their traditions and cultures through training in everythingfrom handicraft making to building local houses toteaching them traditional dances that had been ignoredin modern times. If the world was imploding around them,
they had to dig deep into their historical ways to moveahead. Sustainability became her focus, and rather thanbemoaning the calamity of a global pandemic, she saw
an opportunity to help teach local people just how richthey were in many other ways that had nothing to dowith international traveller’s expenditure.

“I’m most proud of how I tried very hard to keep thehotel survive in time of this pandemic and in starting to
re-engage some members of my community in the new
business,” she says. “I think what I have done, I havehelped encourage domestic tourism to grow by having
local visitors to come to my hotel. This has in turnprovided opportunities to my local community who workand supply local foods and materials for the hotel.”
One of the activities Tarabuka Hideaway Lodge offereddomestic guests after COVID hit was learning to build
local traditional sailing canoes. Eretia worked withtraditional canoe builders from her village and involved
the local people, teaching them to build canoes using
local materials and knowledge passed down throughgenerations of Kiribati people.
“One of the activities we have done during this COVID
times is starting to building traditional sailing canoes,”she says. “This is very important because it’s about thepeople learning and rediscovering their culture. There isa lot of importance in having these canoes which they
can use for fishing, and also to learn how to survive inthe sea, because this is very important for them.”

I’m most proud of how I tried very
hard to keep the hotel survive intime of this pandemic and in starting
to re-engage some members of mycommunity in the new business.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

37

Eretia Monite | Tarabuka Hideaway Lodge | Buariki (Tarawa), Kiribati

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252“COVID-19 has made us realise the importance of our
traditional way of life,” Eretia says. “Our young people
must learn local survival skills like growing their own food,planting resilience crops such as giant swamp taro, andbuilding canoes, and fishing. All these local community
engagements better prepared us and locals for tourism
developments and a sustainable future.”
It has also helped locals to appreciate and to learn more
about their scarce resources, and to allow tourism in
the area to develop totally from the natural environment
around them.

Eretia also worked to ensure the local communityof Buariki Village’s history and its myths will be kept
alive by involving local storytellers from the community,and providing a place for them to come and telltheir stories to locals, especially young people,
to ensure they understood their unique history.
“The future looks promising with local tourism
now,” Eretia says. “During COVID-19, there wasvirtually no business because I had concentrated onoverseas visitors. So my advice to other tourism operators
is to never give up even with COVID-19, as there arealways opportunities that can arise. If there is a will, there
is a way.”

Our young people must learn local
survival skills like growing their own
food, planting resilience crops such as
giant swamp taro, and building canoes,
and fishing. All these local community
engagements better prepared us andlocals for tourism developments and asustainable future.
38

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFICRESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

39

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

TERAU
BEACH
BUNGALOWKABOUAJOHN

K I R I B AT I

Credit: David Kirkland & SPTO

40

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Kaboua John | Terau Beach Bungalow | Abaiang, Kiribati

Close your eyes and picture a PacificIsland paradise: you are seeing azureblue seas lapping onto white sandbeaches, fringed by coconut trees,
right? Well, that’s Abaiang in Kiribati
you’re visualising, traditionally known
as the land in the North.
Close enough to Kiribati’s capital, Tarawa, tomake for an easy boat trip or even shorter plane
trip, Abaiang is the epitome of South Seas
Utopia. Measuring barely 16 square kilometresin land mass, it is surrounded entirely by one of
the Pacific’s most beautiful lagoons – a bodyof water which dwarfs the island. Measuring 25
kilometres by eight kilometres, it is as beautiful
as Bora Bora’s much more famous lagoon –ringed by silica-sandy beaches, filled with coraland plenty of fish.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISISIn this era of modern tourism, no paradise like
Abaiang ever remains a secret. And so it wasthat tourists seeking a watery tropical escapecame here in increasing numbers: to fish,kayak, snorkel, dive or just to loll in its pristinewaters. Abaiang is also known as the cradle ofChristianity in Kiribati and the first Kiribati island
to have been introduced to the Christian faith
following the arrival of Protestant missionaries,
Dr Rev. Hiram Bingham in the 1857: tourists
could come to observe the first tall building in
the country, a tower cathedral church built rightbeside the water; and other early European
Protestant Missionary history dating back to
the mid-1800s.

41

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Kaboua John | Terau Beach Bungalow | Abaiang, Kiribati

Abaiang, Kiribati / Coordinates
2.0000° N, 173.0000° E

PA L A U

F E D E R AT E D S TAT E S
OF MICRONESIAMARSHALLISLANDSNAURU

PA P U A N E W
GUINEAK I R I B AT I

SOLOMON
ISLANDST U VA L U

SAMOA
COOK
ISLANDS

VA N U AT U
FIJI

TONGA

NEW
CALEDONIA

AUSTRALIA

Kaboua John grew up here and decided in 2013 to build
a guesthouse – Terau Beach Bungalow – to provide
accommodation for this growing market of international
travellers, and to help provide employment for others on
the island.

42

By 2014, his bungalow had become one of the country’s
best known and was a magnet for travellers seeking
accommodation beside arguably the country’s prettiest
lagoon. Most of his business came from international
visitors – between 70 and 80 percent of his customers
and he employed six locals. He ran cultural village tours,
island tours and organised fishing tours for guests,
snorkelling, kayaking or head out on day tours by boat totiny islets throughout the lagoon.

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

It didn’t only help me as an individual
but Terau Beach Bungalow was
known to really improve the village’s
livelihood.

Kaboua John

“It didn’t only help me as an individual but Terau Beach
Bungalow was known to really improve the village’s
livelihood through income generation for transport
operators, fishermen, farmers, handicraft makers and thewhole community in Abaiang Island,” Kaboua says.
And then, COVID-19 came along and changed everything
overnight.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISISIn March 2020, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic
and the Kiribati border was closed to all international
travellers. “I felt concerned about my business knowingthat most of our guests were from overseas,” he says.
But Kaboua decided this would be a fine time to come up
with an even bigger plan. Rather than curse the deadly
virus and wait till Kiribati’s borders opened to travellers
again, Kaboua worked on initiatives to keep his bungalow
running.

43

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Kaboua John | Terau Beach Bungalow | Abaiang, Kiribati

44

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252“When I knew there was no profit at all, I decided tobuild a small retail store and use this pandemic time to
do renovations, and attended the online virtual training
organized by the Kiribati Tourism Authority to learn moreon how to deal with guests in the new normal era and tohelp us sustain our business during the pandemic,” hesays.
Besides owning a guesthouse on Abaiang, Kaboua by
profession serves as Assistant Agricultural Extension
Officer within the Ministry of Environment, Lands andAgricultural Development for the Kiribati Government. Hispassion for agri-tourism and community agriculture andtourism projects is part of a larger fight that Abaiang andKiribati are up against – it is one every bit as formidable
as dealing with a worldwide pandemic.
Climate change has already begun to affect the island of
Abaiang. As has been the case for many low-lying coral
atolls throughout the Pacific. Some islands in Kiribati havefelt the impact of climate change and thus some houses
and villages have been abandoned as more frequent
storms and higher tidal surges have eroded parts of theisland closest to the lagoon. Some locals have been
forced to relocate inland.
During COVID-19, Kaboua has been one of the major
players in the island’s shift towards becoming a certified
organic island, ensuring 100 percent of its agriculture is
produced organically and sustainably. Kaboua did the
majority of the work on Abaiang to make it a bona fideorganic island.

As part of this push, he organised and led cleaning
campaigns in each village on the island. And he worked
hard on educating locals about looking after their island –particularly in regard to plastic litter.
“As part of living the sustainable dreams I‘m so passionate
about, I started advocating on cleaning campaigns fromour hotels,” he says. “Then I extended this to villages
in Abaiang promoting and raising awareness on plastic
littering for the villagers to practice living plastic litter-freein their homes because I understand that the grassroots
level should be the one very important group of society
we need to work with. They’re the ones that can advocate
this through home education to their young generations.
I believe this will be a key supporting factor to encourage
the communities to heavily rely on organic food and less onimported foods and goods which is one main contributing
factor to increasing plastic waste on the island.”He also conducted agricultural hands-on training tocommunities on the island to enable them to plantorganic food – so they can also sell it to hotels as income
generation as tourists begin to come back. As a huge
believer in home-based gardening for communities
on Abaiang to make themselves both sustainable andprofitable for the future, he encouraged the communities
of Abaiang to plant coconut trees to continue producing
coco sap sugar – sugar made from toddy juice – as one of
their income streams, without having to rely quite so muchon copra (dried coconut kernels from which coconut oil is
extracted). He was a major voice in supporting the growth
and the promotion of virgin coconut oil made entirely fromorganic produce.

I believe this will be a key supporting
factor to encourage the communities
to heavily rely on organic food and lesson imported foods and goods which
is one main contributing factor toincreasing plastic waste on the island.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

45

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Kaboua John | Terau Beach Bungalow | Abaiang, Kiribati

Kaboua has also worked with local communities in
Abaiang through partnerships to ensure all materials to be
used for constructing bungalows and renovating existing
bungalows are supplied from local communities, such as
pandanus leaves and trunks, and coconut tree trunks.
His own bungalow was built using locally grown materials
and Kiribati traditional building skills – he has worked
to ensure local builders gain employment in this area,
utilising knowledge handed down through generations oflocal builders.
“It’s true that there may be challenges to come acrossin the future,” he says. “But you need to try and work
really hard to address them and refrain from fearing yourchallenges. I know my business will start growing again
as there will be an increase in the number of travellers infuture when our border opens, and I’ll experience revenue
flows into my business like before. I believe that there
will be an increased number of visitors to Kiribati when
the border reopens. I want to encourage all I-Kiribati – all
the communities and households – to start preparing andbeautifying their islands and homes before this reopening.
They need to make use of their local skills and knowledge
and talents which will support them and their livelihoods
through income earning from cutting toddy, navigation,
making a thatched roof made from dry pandanus leaves,or string making from coconut fibre, gardening, coconut
husking, cooking and many more things that will help
them generate income when travellers come back.”

Abaiang is one of the Pacific’s most beautiful destinations,
but Kaboua said he knows keeping it this way as climatechange becomes a bigger issue, is an important task as
dealing with anything a global pandemic throws at theisland. He thinks the time off from international tourism
during the pandemic will be beneficial ultimately to theisland, when the environmental standards put in place
during this down-time – like litter campaigns and making
the island 100% organic – will help to boost Abaiang’s
appeal to tourists from all over the world. He wants
tourists to now feel they are part of the solution to climatechange, not part of the problem.
And sometimes it’s the simple things that stay withtravellers the longest. “At Terau Beach Bungalow, oneof our guests’ activities was encouraging guests to plant
one coconut tree and put their name on it,” he says. “I
believe this will help ensure our guests come back tocheck on their tree. As part of retaining guests’ interest
to visit again, we keep communicating with them andupdating them on their coconut trees, sharing videos andphotos of how it’s growing. That way they feel they leavesomething of themselves on Abaiang and it might givethem a reason to return.”

I know my business will start
growing again as there will be anincrease in the number of travellers
in future when our border opens,and I’ll experience revenue flows
into my business like before.
46

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFICRESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

47

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

RIVERSFIJI

KASIMIRO(KASI)TA U K E I N I K O R O

FIJICredit: David Kirkland & SPTO

48

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Kasimiro (Kasi) Taukeinikoro | Rivers Fiji | Southern Viti Levu, Fiji

When you think of Fiji, it’s thebeaches and blue ocean that cometo mind. All across the world, Fiji
epitomises the very idea of thetropics. Everyone from Hollywood
hot-shots to value-seeking families
come here looking for the ultimate
South Seas getaway.
But Fiji’s beaches and ocean are only a sample
of what Fiji offers. For a completely different
take on paradise, travellers should head inlandfrom the coast on Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu,
for a rafting or kayaking journey through one of
the Pacific’s most pristine conservation areas.
Here the Navua River flows for 65 kilometresfrom the highlands of Viti Levu to the island’ssouth coast, where you’ll find over 50 waterfalls.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

Narrow canyons 50 metres high slice straight
through volcanic rock where passage seems
barely wide enough for rafts to pass. The
surrounding forest, with its huge banyan trees
and gigantic sago palms and ferns, block out
the sunshine.

49https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Kasimiro (Kasi) Taukeinikoro | Rivers Fiji | Southern Viti Levu, FijiSouthern Viti Levu, Fiji / Coordinates
17.8483° S, 178.0118° E

PA L A U

F E D E R AT E D S TAT E S
OF MICRONESIAMARSHALLISLANDSNAURU
K I R I B AT I

PA P U A N E W
GUINEASOLOMON
ISLANDST U VA L U

SAMOA

VA N U AT U

COOKISLANDS

FIJI
TONGA

NEW
CALEDONIA

AUSTRALIA

Rivers Fiji operates in this stunning wilderness. They are
Fiji’s only river rafting company that operates classes 2& 3 river section. This is one of the South Pacific’s mostpristine rivers, protected by one of the most uniqueconservation co-operations in the world. Land-owningclans (mataqali), local villages, Government and Rivers Fijicame together to protect the Upper Navua River, within
the Upper Navua Conservation Area (UNCA).

50

In 2006, the UNCA became the first Ramsar site in Fiji.
The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty
to protect fragile wetlands, which is extremely vital forthe preservation of the biodiversity and subsequently thehealth and well being of the local communities.

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Kasimiro Taukeinikoro was instrumental
in helping to bring everyone together topreserve this special part of Fiji – creating
a 615 hectare protected wilderness.

Kasimiro (Kasi) Taukeinikoro

Rivers Fiji director Kasimiro Taukeinikoro was instrumental
in helping to bring everyone together to preserve thisspecial part of Fiji – creating a 615 hectare protectedwilderness, spread across 24 kilometres of river, with a
200 metre wide forest buffer on each side. This area ishome to some of Fiji’s rarest endemic plants and animals,
including at least three that are endangered.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

The arrangement had worked perfectly. Remotecommunities received an income from the rafting
business, and locals from the villages trained to become
river guides, while the protection of the area ensured foodand water sources stayed pristine.

51https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Kasimiro (Kasi) Taukeinikoro | Rivers Fiji | Southern Viti Levu, Fiji

52

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Rivers Fiji is also affiliated to the Duavata Sustainable
Collective. Taukeinikoro says. “The Duavata Sustainable
Collective is a group of tourism operators and they all
have the same thing in mind; to protect and preserve theenvironment, and be a voice for the communities.”
By March 2020, the company employed 18 river guides
and three office staff. Rivers Fijj operated raft and kayaking
tours on two sections of the river – the Upper Navua andthe Middle Navua River – operating three days a week oneach river. They also ran multi-day camping and culturalexperience trips for larger university groups to interact
with these remote villages, learning about their way of life.
And then COVID-19 hit, and Fiji closed its borders andinternational visitors, who had been Rivers Fiji’s main
customers, couldn’t enter Fiji.
“When COVID happened, it really struck us in the gut. The
hardest moment was sending people home and seeing
everyone struggle, but you can’t do anything about it,”says Taukeinikoro.
Taukeinikoro knew he had to think on his feet. Throughout
the company’s 24 year history, they had faced obstacles.
This pandemic, Taukeinikoro figured, was just another.
“The great challenge was that we had bills to pay, eventhough we were not operating,” he says. “We have theproperty to take care for and the insurance and theloans.” Forced to sell some of the company’s assets,
Taukeinikoro made the decision to target the local tourism
market by dropping prices for rafting and kayaking trips
by 75 percent.

“We were just doing it to get the boys (guides) working andthat was fine with us,” Taukeinikoro says. “So that’s what
we did. We sent out fliers quickly and to the organisations
and the locals and put an ad in the paper to say ‘hey, thisis a 75 percent discount’, and then… boom! It exploded
and people were coming from everywhere.”Though they were only making enough money to pay theguides, what mattered to Taukeinikoro was that money was
still flowing into the remote villages and the landowningunits (mataqali) of the Upper Navua Conservation Area.
Then, when COVID-19 hit Fiji itself in July 2021, thebusiness had to close down completely. Even that didn’t
stop Taukeinikoro’s committed involvement in the region.
As part of a collective health initiative, Rivers Fiji stepped
up to help Fiji’s Ministry of Health in their vaccination
campaign to reach the most remote villages of the region.
He and his wife offered up their services to drive allterrain vehicles deep into the Sigatoka River Basin toreach remote villages.
“Everyone was scared of COVID, but I said to my wife –we’ve got to do this for the boys (guides),” Taukeinikorosays. When some of the designated drivers for the
mission were too frightened to go into infected villages,
Taukeinikoro opted to take over the driving himself. They
would have to isolate afterwards, be tested weekly andoften not see family and friends for weeks.

When COVID happened, it reallystruck us in the gut. The hardest
moment was sending people homeand seeing everyone struggle, but
you can’t do anything about it.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

53

Kasimiro (Kasi) Taukeinikoro | Rivers Fiji | Southern Viti Levu, Fiji

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

They would have to visit many villages multiple times
to ensure they vaccinated everyone who wanted to be
vaccinated “Some of those villages we visited like 7 to 8
times just because, after we left the clinic, someone else
wanted to get vaccinated, but we had to do it,” he says.
It became a tough task to track down Taukeinikoro, as hemoved through the wilderness visiting villages. With hiscompany not earning any income, he devoted most of
his time as a volunteer. Taukeinikoro moved the operationof his rafting company to his house to keep costs down,
but Taukeinikoro kept the business alive online to keepinterest up for when international customers could returnto Fiji.
As an environmentalist at heart, he knew the survival ofRivers Fiji should ensure the conservation of the river
region the company operates on. He is passionate about
working with the tiny remote communities that exist in theregion, and knows their economic activities and potential
is limited without the income and jobs the company offers.
He has worked with other members of the Duavata
Sustainable Collective in the area to find new tourism
activities to ensure remote villages are provided for, andto ensure the Upper Navua Conversation Area stays thesame for generations to come.

Part of the new initiatives have been working withthe collective to create a series of adventure races in
the region to showcase the beauty of the river and its
surrounds. Rivers Fiji was part of the team that brought
the successful EcoChallenge series of races to this partof Fiji. Now they have set up a series of races with alocal youth leadership program, Invisibilia, to promote theconservation of the area.
However, Taukeinikoro’s proudest moment since
COVID-19 struck the world was the day he opened his
rafting business back up when international travellers
were allowed back into Fiji in December 2021.
“The best moment of the last 18 months was when we
opened again,” he says. “All the guides came back. Evensome guides who had found work elsewhere even cameback, they wanted to be here on the day. It was a very
proud moment for us because some companies didn’t
make it, and we were one of those companies that did
well. We have to carry on. But we have to have remember
one thing; we have everything to lose, so we have toprotect this. This is our golden egg.”

We have everything to lose,
so we have to protect this.
This is our golden egg.
54

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFICRESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

55

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

DRUA
EXPERIENCES E TA R E K I
LEDUA

FIJI

56

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Setareki Ledua | Drua Experience | Viseisei, Fiji

Setareki Ledua sailed a traditionalsailing canoe right around the worldusing nothing but the stars to guidethe way.
Part of a group of youth adventurers selected
to represent the Pacific nations during the Te
Mana Te Moana World Expedition, Ledua faced
every obstacle Mother Nature could throwat him as he made his way from Fiji to New
Zealand, and back to the West Coast of North
America via French Polynesia and Hawaii.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISISHe spent two years at sea raising awareness of
our ailing oceans and the threat to the way oflife in tiny islands communities throughout the
Pacific. All this he did before he turned 21.

57

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Setareki Ledua | Drua Experience | Viseisei, Fiji

Viseisei, Fiji / Coordinates
17.6798° S, 177.3898° E

PA L A U

F E D E R AT E D S TAT E S
OF MICRONESIAMARSHALLISLANDSNAURU
K I R I B AT I

PA P U A N E W
GUINEASOLOMON
ISLANDST U VA L U

SAMOA

VA N U AT U

COOKISLANDS

FIJI
TONGA

NEW
CALEDONIA

AUSTRALIA

He handled storms and waves the size of apartmentbuildings, and so when a worldwide pandemic camealong in March 2020, he used the calm he found on his
journey to deal with it. What does not kill you makes you
stronger – Ledua knows a lot about that.

58

Ledua comes from a long lineage of traditional canoebuilders in Fiji. In fact, it was his family who was part of
the team who built the traditional canoe presented toQueen Elizabeth II a few years ago.

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Ledua comes from a long lineage of
traditional canoe builders in Fiji. In fact,
it was his family who was part of the team
who built the traditional canoe presented
to Queen Elizabeth II a few years ago.

Setareki Ledua

Ever since he was little, Ledua has always been apassionate advocate of his people’s seafaring ways.
Tracing his ancestry back to Fiji’s remote Lau Group ofIslands, he grew up in Vulaga, his home island before
moving to Fiji’s capital, Suva, with a thirst for adventure
and the ocean.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

His experience sailing the Pacific Ocean in 2011 and2012 as one of a handful of l-Taukei traditional navigators
chosen to circumnavigate the globe on a traditional sailing
canoe using nothing but celestial navigation fuelled hisdesire to teach his own people more about their proudseafaring history.

59https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Setareki Ledua | Drua Experience | Viseisei, Fiji

60

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFIC

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

It also made him want to teach about sustainability in anage of excess – our ocean, he assessed, is what connects
the Pacific nations with each other – and the wind is the
only fuel we need.
Using the strong bonds he built with others who hesailed with on his circumnavigation, Ledua helped build atraditional Fijian Drua sailing canoe to operate out of Vudu
Marina on Viti Levu’s stunning west coast. He wanted to
run his sailing canoe business using some of the lifelong
friends he made on his epic journey. He gathered together
some of his original crew to help run a sailing business,called Drua Sailing Experience, building the only I-Taukei
designed Drua canoe on the water. Drua means two hulls,
one of which is male, the other female, and wherever one
goes, the other goes with it.
He set up sailing tours – sunset tours and half day tours
which sailed along the coast – teaching tourists the waysof his seafaring people, while hosting kava and othercultural ceremonies on board.
“Guests would experience how our ancestors used tosail,” he says. “One of the reasons we ran as a business
was because we wanted to keep the traditional sailingculture alive in Fiji and to inspire the youth by teachingthem about their sailing culture and about traditionalnavigation.”
Guests came in great numbers, keen to understand more
about local sailing culture, but also to hear Ledua andhis vibrant crew tell stories about their culture and about
how they too navigated the Pacific as their ancestors had
sailed before them.

Soon Ledua was running at least two or three full toursof 15 passengers per day, while employing a steady crewof 10. Ledua was also an instructor during Drua holiday
camps for kids from local schools, who wanted to find out
more about their traditional seafaring past.
And then, COVID hit the world, and Ledua’s successful
business came to a grinding halt.
“We had booking coming in almost every day. We were
just taking off and then when COVID hit, it all just camecrashing down,” he says. “And so we had to move backto Suva. We had to release all the staff, I lost my job.”
Fortunately, Ledua’s wife still had employment and Ledua
was able to support the family by working in his family’splantation and working with his family to carve traditional
tools and implements to sell.
But Ledua’s passion lies within the sea, and you cannot
keep a true seafarer from the ocean for long. Thoughsome of his staff had moved to find work wherever they
could to survive, those who remained were committed
to the idea of gathering more understanding of theirancestor’s sailing knowledge and ways. They began
visiting local communities all across Viti Levu – Fiji’s mainisland – to find out everything they could about traditional
canoe construction techniques, documenting all thevarious techniques used in weaving and carving thecanoes. During this time, Ledua was also accepted onto
UNESCO’s Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Training of Trainee (ToT) course, which helped to advancehis knowledge and skills in this area.

We had booking coming in almost everyday. We were just taking off and thenwhen COVID hit, it all just came crashing
down.

RESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

61

Setareki Ledua | Drua Experience | Viseisei, Fiji

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

This took up most of Ledua and his crew’s spare time. He
figured the time off because of COVID should be used on
making their business better – and on better representing
the history and the traditions of Fiji’s seafarers.
But the crew wanted to embark on something evenbigger. Ledua’s ancestry can be traced back to the LauGroup of islands, a remote archipelago of 57 islands ineastern Fiji spread across 114,000 square kilometres of
the Pacific Ocean. He wanted to take the Drua canoeback to the Lau Group, to meet with the traditional canoebuilders of the islands, to learn techniques fading fastfrom their villages in these more modern times. And hewanted to show them what he had learnt on Viti Levu.
“The tourism industry was closed altogether,” he says.
“When we were sailing on the Utoniyalo around theworld, we would talk to each other and say we haveto sail to every village and every island that we camefrom, where all the crew comes from. And now there
were no tourists and no planes and no bookings coming
in and I just said: we should sail to the Lau islands.”

The expedition was to take two months and would beground-breaking – both for the local people, and for
Ledua and his crew. “The trip was a homecoming sail,” hesays. “There’s a recording of a Drua sailing out of the Laugroup, but there’s no recording of a Drua sailing into theLau group, and that’s been in over 200 years. We wanted
to go and collect more evidence about traditional sailingand canoe building, we wanted to meet the locals andrecord the people who have all that knowledge and pay
honour and respect to our ancestors in the Lau group.”
In two months spent sailing across the Fijian islands,
Ledua was able to ignite conversation and excitementin the local people about their traditional seafaring ways.
The talk now has turned towards sustainability andrebuilding forests for the species of tree needed for Druabuilding. They also got locals excited about relearning
weaving techniques and gardening staple foods,
which are necessary to stock canoes for long voyages.
Ledua has helped the Lau people and other Fijians toremember just how proud they should be of their past.

The men decided to open up a GoFundMe pageto get them there and the owner of Vuda marina
supported them too. Centuries before, some of thebest boat builders lived in these remote islands of
the Lau group in an area considered by some as thecanoe building centre of the Pacific, where boats werebuilt and sailed into areas of Polynesia to the east.

The passing down of traditional knowledge
won’t happen if there’s a gap between
the old people and the young people,” hesays. “And whatever foundations we set
up today, will determine the future of ourlittle kids. So, it is really important for us tokeep these traditions alive.”
62

TOURIS M STORIES PACIFICRESILIENCE THROUGH CRISIS

63

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

Copyright © 2022, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Tourism Stories Pacific 2022 – Resilience Through Crisis

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

ISBN, printed version: 978-92-844-2375-0
ISBN, electronic version: 978-92-844-2376-7
DOI: 10.18111/9789284423767
Published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Madrid, Spain.
First published: 2022
All rights reserved.
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
C/ Poeta Joan Maragall, 4228020 Madrid, Spain
Tel.: (+34) 915 67 81 00
Fax: (+34) 915 71 37 33
E-mail: info@unwto.org
www.unwto.org
The designations employed and the presentation of material in thispublication do not imply the expression of any opinions whatsoever on
the part of the Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its
authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
UNWTO does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in thispublication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of theiruse. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers
does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by UNWTO
in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.
Citation:
World Tourism Organization (2022), Tourism Stories Pacific2022 – Resilience Through Crisis, UNWTO, Madrid,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284423767.

All UNWTO publications are protected by copyright. Therefore, andunless otherwise specified, no part of a UNWTO publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or utilized in any form or by anymeans, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilm,
scanning, without prior permission in writing. UNWTO encourages
dissemination of its work and is pleased to consider permissions,licensing, and translation requests related to UNWTO publications.
Permission to photocopy UNWTO material in
Spain must be obtained through:Centro Español de Derechos Reprográficos (CEDRO)
Calle Alcalá, 26, 3º
28014 Madrid, Spain
Tel.: (+34) 913 08 63 30
Fax: (+34) 913 08 63 27
E-mail: cedro @ cedro.org
www.cedro.org
For authorization of the reproduction of UNWTO works
outside of Spain, please contactvone of CEDRO’s partnerorganizations, with which bilateral agreements are inplace (see: www.cedro.org/english?lng=en).
For all remaining countries as well as for other permissions, requests
should be addressedvdirectly to the World Tourism Organization.
For applications see: www.unwto.org/unwto-publications.

Photo credits:
Cover page: photos from featured stories in the publication
Samoa Story:© Samoa Tourism Authority (pages 8, 11, 12 and 15)
PNG Story:© John Crux Photography | Getty Images (page 16)© Trans Niuguini Tours (pages 19, 20 and 23)
Palau Story:© Ippei Naoi | Getty Images (page 24)© Norimoto | Getty images (page 27)© Pacific Trade Invest (pages 27, 28 and 31)© Colors and shapes underwater world | Getty Images (page 28)
Kiribati Stories:© David Kirkland | SPTO (pages 32 and 40)© Kiribati Tourism Authority (pages 35, 36 39, 43, 44 and 47)
Fiji Stories:© David Kirkland | SPTO (page 48)© Tourism Fiji (pages 51, 52, 55, 56, 59, 60 and 63)

https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284423767 - Wednesday, November 08, 2023 5:11:46 PM - IP Address:210.136.42.252

RESILIENCE
THROUGH CRISISWITH THE KINDSUPPORT OF