Vanuatu trio attend tourism management seminar in Hainan, China

News by Kiery Manase, Vanuatu Daily Post: Three Vanuatu participants to a Chinese-funded Seminar on Tourism Management for Pacific Island Nations held in Hainan University in Hainan province, China have described the seminar as an eye-opener. The two-weeks seminar that started from October 25 to November 4 was attended by Senior Information Officer from the Vanuatu Tourism Office Brenda Andre, Evergreen Ltd Managing Director Philip Malas and a representative from the Penama province George Tambe, was described as highly relevant and practical given Hainan’s strong emphasis on eco-tourism. Apart from the trio from Vanuatu, nine other participants of the seminar came from other Pacific Island countries. Hainan is situated in the farthest south of China, a tropical region boasting a tropical monsoon climate. “We have a lot to learn from China in terms of eco-tourism and we would encourage other ni-Vanuatu who are given the opportunity to attend such internationally- accredited seminars to grab the chance.

“We were treated like VIPs. We certainly learned a lot of things about tourism management and cross cultural activities,” said Ms Andre. Her colleague Philip Malas echoed the same sentiments, but added Vanuatu may need to learn some Chinese etiquettes, way of life and a bit of Chinese cuisine in order to attract more Chinese tourists to come out to Vanuatu.

The participants learned about tourism planning principles and their practicality, cross culture communication, tourism enterprise management, tourism information management and concepts of tourism island development.

Meanwhile at present a few Chinese tourists who visit Vanuatu come through Australia. Vanuatu and China signed an air services agreement in 2005 but the two countries have yet to see direct flights linking them. Overall Australia and New Zealand are the main tourism destinations in the Pacific for Chinese tourists.