SIVB CEO VOWS TO “ARREST DECLINE”
WITH a career spanning Tourism Fiji CEO and Blue Lagoon Cruises general manager, Jo Tuamoto knows the ins and outs of the industry, but 12 months into his tenure as Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) CEO, he has a renewed focus on growth. Cruising is front of mind for Tuamoto as SIVB looks to tap into the burgeoning cruise sector which has captured the attention of travellers right across the globe. Speaking with travelbulletin on a whirlwind visit to Australia, Tuamoto brushed aside suggestions that Vanuatu and Fiji were vying for the same business, insisting that the Solomon Islands is a “different destination” than its bigger sisters in the South Pacific. But he also acknowledged the need to progress to boost the region’s profile, singling out cruising as the “most logical” option. Work is now underway to modernise Honiara wharf to ease access for large vessels, with construction slated to finish in 2016. Tuamoto is also in talks with big players Carnival Australia, Royal Caribbean and Lindblad to lock in big ship cruising business for 2017 and beyond. But it’s small ship expedition cruising that he has in mind. “Big ship cruising is quite restrictive for us because visitors only stay for eight hours and don’t really get to experience the destination. Time limitations also mean they can’t spend much money, so we are also looking to expand our reach with expedition cruising which is not restricted by large ports,” he said. While large ship cruising brings in numbers of up to 2000 a hit, Tuamoto said expedition cruising allows travellers to access the smaller villages and support remote communities in terms of spending. It also provides a better overview of the Solomons to woo repeat visitors, he added. But numbers only form a part of the equation, with the Solomons’ 25,000 annual visitors a long shot compared to Fiji’s 700,000 and Vanuatu’s 100,000. Tuamoto told travelbulletin that the Solomon Islands “doesn’t do big numbers”, instead focusing on its strengths as a cultural destination. “The Solomons is unlike Vanuatu and Fiji; we are an untouched destination and we sit on our own in terms of adventure, diving and war memorial tours. We can’t compete with the numbers of Fiji and Vanuatu, but we can continue to grow,” he said. For now, he said, the focus is on rebuilding the Solomons after a challenging 2014 which was plagued by floods, political upheaval and air service issues with the Fiji Government. “We had a hard year in 2014 but our main focus for 2015 is to arrest the decline, achieve small growth in 2016 and then aim for double digit growth in 2017,” he concluded.