Tourism head rejects tourism “rebel” group

Samoa Tourism Authority Chief Executive Officer Papali’i Sonya Hunter has rejected criticism from a “rebel” tourism group that the country’s marketing and promotion campaigns are failing the industry.

Papali’i has also rejected claims that a visitor survey shows a quarter of all properties have been without guests for a whole year. “The ones they referred to as having a zero percentages are those property accommodations that, say for example, had been affected by the tsunami and no one was actually staying there, for example, Vavau Beach Fale, I mean that was taken out several years ago in 2009,” she told Radio Australia in an interview.

“Some of those other ones included – how would you call it – an accommodation at a university and, you know, anyone who knows how to read statistics would actually look at it and know why there’s a zero zero, if they know the product well.”

The report did not clarify why the properties had been included in the survey. Papali’i was responding to comments from Samoa For Real spokeswoman Nannette Sass, who earlier told Radio Australia they had been called “the rebel group” for criticising national marketing and promotion programmes. Ms. Sass, a consultant for the International Finance Corporation and a former chief executive officer for Samoa Hotel Association as well as the Samoa Chamber of Commerce, said the visitor survey showed real cause for concern.

“What is reflected in the figures is that something is dramatically not right, or drastically not right as far as our promotional activities and marketing of Samoa,”

Thirty of the 120 properties listed did not register at all with visitors surveyed. Ms. Sass suggested that “perhaps we really need to look at regrouping and going back to the drawing board and trying to address the issue of what is Samoa as a destination and what are its unique selling propositions and from there look at strategically developing that plan.” However Papali’i did not accept her credentials for making comment. “Well, I don’t know what she was referring to because she’s not from the tourism industry and I don’t know if we can refer to her as a Samoa tourism expert,” said Papali’i, referring to Ms. Sass. “All I can I say is that all I would like to know is, you know, what it is they were referring to.”

She said that while 28 percent of visitors stayed in private homes, the majority stayed in commercial properties. Papali’i’s response drew criticism online last week.

“To imply that someone ( Nynette Sass in this case) is not in the tourism industry, and is therefore not qualified to comment on tourism-related issues, is arrogant and full of self-righteousness!” said one industry source on Facebook.

“STA does not own the tourism industry in Samoa...and sooner they get the message that tourism is "everybody's business" the sooner they get it right... maybe!! Rest of the interview is the usual waffling & blah blah blah....” Asked whether government realised there is a problem, Ms. Sass said that, “Well, to be quite honest, I think that is part of the problem, that we’re not recognising as a country that those properties do not have people in them.”

During discussions last year between Samoa For Real and the government, they pointed out that there were many properties that did not have any tourists. Some closed down for half the year because they couldn’t afford to keep staff because there was nobody there, she said.

“And the result of that was that we were told we were ‘the rebels’ and that we were unnecessarily raising concerns that were not there.” Ms. Sass said that as long as that attitude remains “and we can’t collectively acknowledge that there is a problem then we won’t be able to address the problem and the issue that we are in now.” Papali’i said that the stories about “zero” visitors at some properties showed that some people do not know how to read statistics.

The full interview transcripts are published below. Nynette Sass: “What is reflected in the figures is that something is dramatically not right, or drastically not right as far as our promotional activities and marketing of Samoa. And that perhaps we really need to look at regrouping and going back to the drawing board and trying to address the issue of what is Samoa as a destination and what are its unique selling propositions and from there look at strategically developing that plan.”

Q. Could the problem be that there are too many tourism accommodation providers in Samoa – that there’s too much supply and not enough demand? “That’s a possibility, that’s a possibility. But the thing is that the government of the day has also been encouraging a lot of the local investors to build accommodation and this was around 2007 or prior to the games, the South Pacific Games that was hosted in Samoa, so everyone went out and started investing in hotels.”

Q. Well, Samoa has got everything that every other Pacific destination has, wonderful beaches, beautiful warm seas to swim in and snorkel in, tropical rain forests, friendly people, what’s the problem with marketing Samoa outside?

“Yeah, um, (chuckles), I think again like I said, it’s coming and regrouping and really looking at those areas that are special to Samoa. As you just said, every other South Pacific island has exactly what we are offering, but from the research that has been done, it’s always pointed towards the people being very friendly, and that’s one of the unique selling points that I guess we could promote.”

Q. So you’re suggesting using Samoan culture as like a unique selling point that makes Samoa different from Fiji, Cook Islands, Niue and Vanuatu? “Absolutely, absolutely.”

Q. Then why isn’t this being done then? Obviously if a quarter of all accommodation providers have had no one staying with them for 12 months, clearly the government must be aware that something is very wrong?

“Well, to be quite honest, I think that is part of the problem, that we’re not recognising as a country that those properties do not have people in them. Because this is where the discussions arose last year between our group, Samoa For Real group, and the proposal that we put to the government.

We pointed out to them that there were so many properties that did not have any tourists and some even closed down for half the year because they couldn’t afford to keep staff and running an operation because there was nobody there, and the result of that was that we were told we were ‘the rebels’ and that we were unnecessarily raising concerns that were not there and as long as that is there and we can’t collectively acknowledge that there is a problem then we won’t be able to address the problem and the issue that we are in now.”

Q. So is the problem that Samoa is just not marketing itself correctly, and if so, whose responsibility is it to change the strategic thinking in the way that Samoa puts itself forward as a tourism destination?

“For starters, the destination marketing, that is the role of the national tourism organisation, in our case that is the Samoa Tourism Authority, and I guess there is not enough effort being put behind promoting Samoa as that cultural destination.”

Q. So you think it’s really the government body’s responsibility?

What about the private sector, what about your group Samoa For Real, and perhaps other tourism operators getting together and launching their own marketing campaign – nothing to stop you? “Yeah, that’s the reason why Samoa For Real came together, it’s looking at collectively putting that effort by the private sector to look at collective marketing, collective bargaining, but at the end of the day it can’t just be the Samoa For Real, or just the national tourism organisation doing the marketing.

The marketing really has to come from everybody, all the stakeholders need to agree that this is the type of thing that we’re going to promote, and then once the destination marketing and promotion has been done by the tourism authority, the rest of the operators and other players and stakeholders can tag along and promote the same things.” Papali’i Sonya Hunter:

“Everyone was truly satisfied and the tourism products that they sought aside from the accommodations where they stayed at the main sort of attractions that they felt was the pristine environment and also you know there is a lot of comments about the beauty of Samoa.

Some of the others included friendly people as well as you know the cuisine part that they felt was really good. Also the overall experience, and the culture. The culture and the environment made the difference.

Q. These days with South Pacific travel destinations, countries have got to differentiate themselves because anyone can go anywhere for beaches and palm trees and little drinks with umbrellas in them, but they’ve got to offer something special.

This group that Nannette Sass was representing Samoa For Real was saying that Samoa is not really marketing itself with a focus on what is special to Samoa – it’s trying to compete with everyone on offering the same sort of thing – is that justified?

“Well, I don’t know what she was referring to because she’s not from the tourism industry and I don’t know if we can refer to her as a Samoa tourism expert.

All I can I say is that all I would like to know is, you know, what it is they were referring to. We can try and differentiate ourselves as much as possible through our culture and our environment and our people. The beaches actually featured highly in our visitors survey. Whilst we discount the fact that everyone in the Pacific has a beach, the fact is that there are different kinds of beaches.

Our beaches and lagoons are quite pristine, but its actually added with the difference in the destination is our culture and our own inclusiveness, you know, um, and that’s what people refer to as friendliness and we utilise that a lot in our marketing by saying this is the Samoan experience – you cannot find that anywhere else.”

Q. But what about this aspect of the report which seemed to say that a quarter of the country’s accommodation providers had no visitors staying at all – was that simply not the case or how would they have misinterpreted that sort of statistic?

“Um, if you look at the report it actually says that 28 per cent of all tourists stayed in a private home.

So that would make up for our visiting friends and relatives, but also 72 per cent actually stayed in commercial accommodation, hotels, bed and breakfast etcetera, now the reason why they have said that is because, um, in the back in our annexes, we actually give the full information on who answered that, where they had stayed etcetera and we listed all the accommodation and so there are percentages and the thing is that with the 4,400 people we actually interviewed, they actually showed that they did stay in commercial accommodations but the ones they referred to as having a zero percentages are those property accommodations that, say for example, had been affected by the tsunami and no one was actually staying there, for example, Vavau Beach Fale, I mean that was taken out several years ago in 2009.

Some of those other ones included – how would you call it – an accommodation at a university and, you know, anyone who knows how to read statistics would actually look at it and know why there’s a zero zero if they know the product well.”