American Samoa Visitors Bureau

MANDATED WITH PROMOTING

tourism in the region is the American Samoa Visitors Bureau (ASVB), established in 2008 after former Governor Togiola Tulafono issued an Executive Order titled the Tourism Development Act.

“Prior to this there was a Tourism Division within the American Samoa Government Department of Commerce for some 20-plus years,” explains Vaeafe. “The ASVB mandate is to create and build a viable tourism sector and I was hired as its first Executive Director in August 2009 to establish the office.”

Here, Vaeafe takes time out to answer our questions about the association’s work and tourism scene in Americana Samoa more generally. Asia Outlook (AsO): Since inception, how has the ASVB developed and progressed in terms of its key objectives and the messages it tries to get across?

David Vaeafe (DV): Since we started this office from scratch, the ASVB had to build everything from the ground up.

With the support from the ASG Department of Commerce, we produced a new Tourism Development Plan which was delivered in 2010. The new tourism plan gave us a more focused roadmap on building up our tourism sector on the basis of a Public Private Sector Partnership model.

The ASVB inherited a local young tourism industry that very much had little to no tourism industry experience/training but were passionate about their products and services. We spent the first few years through the support of US Federal Grant Funding conducting our successful ‘Tourism Export Ready Training Program’, which covered 95 percent of our industry, training them on the global tourism industry, relationships between airlines, wholesalers, retailers and online travel agents, how to produce commissionable contracts, and marketing and sales.

At the same time the ASVB undertook sales missions to New Zealand, Australia, USA and UK meeting with travel trade partners and travel media, training and teaching them about American Samoa, a new undiscovered PacIfic Island destination and US Territory in the heart of the Pacific Ocean.

We built relationships with our international travel trade partners and have over the years run awareness and sales campaigns with such companies as Orbitz, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Wotif, Air New Zealand Holidays, Hawaiian Airlines and many others.

The ASVB acts as the sales representatives for its entire industry and we fund all overseas destination marketing campaigns and will continue to do so until such time as our industry members can do their own.

The organisation has re-joined the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) after many years of absence, is a founding member of the South Pacific Cruise Alliance (SPCA and a member of the US Travel Association (USTA). Presently I am Chairman of SPTO and President and Chairman of SPCA.

AsO: How would you say American Samoa has developed in recent years as a business travel hub and what are the key reasons behind its growing appeal?

DV: American Samoa business sector is 100 percent locally owned and business owners have identified their niches in the market for products and services.

One of the key tourism drivers here is shopping with locally owned stores (there are no US chain retailers here) bringing US products into the territory. We have no sales tax or GST here so buying “made in the USA” consumer products is very cheap and attractive to visitors. People who are visiting from neighbouring Samoa will hop on a flight (only 30 minutes) and come shopping in American Samoa for the day. You can buy everything from genuine branded products like Coach, Gucci, Prada, Nike and more.

Besides the retail aspect, a lot of seasoned travellers are also looking for new destinations and American Samoa to most of the traveling public is an unknown. We are the last Pacific Island nation in the region to develop tourism. Our industry is very small, and we are 100 percent locally owned and operated, with no chain hotels and brands here.

If we were to compare our islands with another in terms of tourism development, American Samoa today is where Hawaii’s tourism industry was 75-plus years ago.

AsO: Why, in your opinion, should someone visit American Samoa?

SV: The are many! For example, a genuine unique experience, off the beaten track, Samoan culture and hospitality that is over 3,000 years old and a living culture, no five-star hotels or brands here, rainforest covered islands offering an ecotourism wonder, great shopping and no mass tourism.

AsO: What trends are transforming the tourism industry in American Samoa at present? How are you responding to these trends?

SV: One of the biggest changes taking place on island that we are seeing is a more empowered business sector. Recently the American Samoa Chamber of Commerce has set up a tourism subcommittee lead by one of our longest serving tourism industry members connecting with the grassroots communities and villages.

The tourism sector re-established its own association, now called the Visit Amerika Samoa Association (VASA) which is bringing together private sector members to undertake projects to strengthen, grow and support the industry and work together with the ASVB. We are also seeing industry members utilise more online marketing through social media and other platforms.

The ASVB also passes on new sales and marketing opportunities and platforms to industry members to keep them updated on the changing global industry.

AsO: How do you see American Samoa developing as a business travel hub over the next year to two years?

SV: The ASVB will continue to actively market the destination and industry members at overseas consumer and key trade shows/events such as the Samoa Tourism Exchange, South Pacific Tourism Exchange, Inernational POW WOW, Seatrade Cruise Global and the Travel & Adventure Shows in the region and the US.

We’ll continue to promote the destination as a small MICE market as well as helping develop existing and new businesses on island.

Key projects the ASVB is involved in with other government agencies include the development of the old Inter Continental Rainmaker Hotel vacant site with a new 150-room hotel in the pipeline – watch this space. We are also working with our airline partners on additional services in the future from existing markets, but also new markets and carriers as well. We are actively involved with industry members to develop new products and services for visitors to make their experience in American Samoa a memorable one.

AsO: Are you optimistic about the future of the tourism industry in American Samoa?

SV: The tourism future for American Samoa is a positive one with continued steady growth. We now have a very engaged tourism sector and the ASVB will be there to support the industry and make it easier for them to operate with the support of other government agencies. Tourism is everyone’s business!