Policy Setting for Improved Linkages Between Agriculture, Trade and Tourism: Strengthening the Local Agrifood sector and Promoting Healthy Food in Agritourism Workshop organised by the Government of Tuvalu In collaboration with and Pacific Community, CTA, PIPSO and SPTO. Funafuti, Tuvalu, 7 & 10 September 2018

1. Alisi Lutu
Manager Marketing
AGRI-TOURISM POLICY SETTING
WORKSHOP FOR TUVALU
7 & 10 September 2018, Funafuti, Tuvalu
Tourism Trends in the Pacific and Tuvalu
Opportunities and Development

2. ”
WELCOME
Our islands are yours to travel, enjoy and
respect!
“

3.  Our greatest assets in the Pacific are:
OUR LAND, OCEANS, PEOPLE and CULTURE
#BluePacific identity
 We lose these key assets, we do not have
TOURISM
 Our diverse Culture differentiates us from the
rest of the world.
 Our Positioning: We are the craftspeople of
the world’s most soulful destination

4. PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 B r ief o n S o u t h Pa c ifi c To u ri sm O rgan i sati on
 To u r ism Tren ds a n d Pe r forman ce(Paci fic < > Tu val u )
 Ke y To u r ism C h allen ges & O p p or t un it ies ( Tu v al u )
 D e v el opmen t a t re g ion al l e v el – C u l in ar y I n it iat ives
 L e sson s L e arnt - Wa y F o r ward

5. ABOUT SPTO
• Intergovernmental body for tourism marketing and development in the
region.
• Vision: “Inspire Sustainable Growth and Empower Pacific People”
• Mandate: “Market and Develop Tourism in the South Pacific”
• Partners/Strategic Alliances:
• CROP, PIPSO, PT&I network, Cruise Lines International Association
(CLIA) Sustainable Travel International (STI), National Tourism Offices,
CTA, NGOs etc.
• Only CROP agency with Private Sector Members
• 17 PI governments + China (development partner)
• Core areas of focus: Marketing, Research and Statistics and
Sustainable Tourism Development

6. SPTO MEMBER COUNTRIES

7. GLOBAL TOURISM
TRENDS and
PERFORMANCE

8. Europe 671 Million
(51%)
Asia
Pacific
324 Million
(24%)
Americas 207 Million
(16%)
Africa 62 Million
(5%)
Middle
East
58 Million
(4%)
INTERNATIONAL TOURIST ARRIVALS 2017

10. TOURISM
PERFORMANCE
IN THE PACIFIC

11. THE PACIFIC - A SNAPSHOT
Source: NTOs, NSOs & SPTO
Notes:(F) Forecast
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
500000
1000000
1500000
2000000
2500000
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018F
%
TouristArrivals
Arrivals Growth (%)
 Pacific air arrivals have grown from 1.7 m
(2012) to 2.1 mn (2017)
 Est an extra million are cruise visitors to
the Pacific
 Approx. 0.17% destination share of Global
arrivals (1.322 million visitors)
 3.3% Av annual regional growth over last
six years (2012-2017).
 50.3% visitor traffic from Aust (29.4%) and
NZ (20.9%)
 49.7% from Other Markets – Europe, USA,
Japan, China
 By purpose of visit: 1. leisure dominates
(Cooks, Fiji, Van) 2. Business (PNG etc) and
3. VFR (Samoa & Tonga)

12. Destination 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017(p)
Fiji 660590 657706 692630 754835 792320 842884
French Polynesia 168978 164393 180602 183831 192495 198956
PNG 167149 184321 191442 198685 197632 142943
Samoa 134687 124673 131719 136104 145176 155098
Cook Islands 122384 121158 121458 125132 146473 161362
Palau 118754 105066 140784 161931 138416 122726
New Caledonia 112204 107753 107187 114072 115676 120697
Vanuatu 108161 110109 108811 89952 95117 109063
Tonga 47457 48188 50436 53731 59130 62434
FSM 38263 42109 35440 30240 29485 30060
Timor Leste 34902 44146 48986 61037 71680 119432
Solomon Islands 23925 24431 20070 21623 23192 25700
American Samoa 22580 20846 21603 20335 20050 19987
Niue 5047 7047 7408 7707 8918 9805
Kiribati 4907 5868 5111 4353 5018 5663
Marshall Islands 4590 4342 4876 6311 5332 5202
Tuvalu 1019 1302 1416 2402 2465 2530
Nauru 3038 3002
Total 1,775,597 1,773,458 1,869,979 1,958,499 2,072,435 2,137,538
39.4%
47.2%
13.4%
Source: NTOs, NSOs & SPTO. Data in red are SPTO estimates based on averages of the past four months.
ANNUAL VISITOR ARRIVAL BY DESTINATION: 2012-2017

13. Major Source Markets, % share, 2017
America
Samoa
0.9%
Cook
Islands
7.5%
FSM
1.4%
Fiji
39.4%
French
Polynesia
9.3%
Kiribati
0.3%
Marshall
Islands
0.2%
Nauru
0.1%
New
Caledonia
5.6%
Niue
0.5%
Palau
5.7%
PNG
6.7%
Samoa
7.3%
Solomon
Islands
1.2%
Timo
Leste
5.6%
Tonga
2.9%
Tuvalu
0.1%
Vanuatu
5.1%
PICs % Share, 2017
AUSTRALIA
29.5%
NZ
20.8%USA
10%UK
1.5%
EUROPE
8.9%
CHINA
6.7%
JAPAN
3.7%
OTHER
ASIA
8.9%
PACIFIC
ISLANDS
7.5%
OTHER
COUNTRIES
2.5%
PICs & MAJOR SOURCE MARKETS % SHARE 2017

14. Visitor Arrivals to Tuvalu by Market: 2011 - 2017
-60.0
-40.0
-20.0
0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Grorowth(%Change)
TouristArrivals
Other Countries
Pacific Islands
Other Asia
India
Japan
China
Europe
UK
Canada
USA
New Zealand
Australia
Total
Growth (%) Change
 Arrivals increasing significantly over the last
5 years (2013 -2017)
 Tourist arrivals rose to 2,466 in 2017 from
965 in 2013, @ average growth of 29.9%
 Peaked growth of 65.5% achieved in 2015.
 Post 2015, tourist arrivals growth slowed to
6.5% in 2016 and remained stable through to
2017
 Key source markets over the past 5 years
continue to be held by PICs (29.1%), Australia
(15%), NZ (12.6%) and other Asia (10.7%)
 Key drivers of growth over the past 5 years
have been influenced by markets of China,
PICs & Other Asia
 2018 forecasts a total of 2,546 arrivals (3.2%
growth) based on 2017 base year
 2019 forecasts a total of 2,628 arrivals
(assuming arrival growth remains at 3.2% )

15. GROUP EXERCISE: DESCRIBE SUSTAINABILITY IN ONE WORD
2.1 million
1 million

16. POSITIVE FORECAST FOR PICs
(SPTO & WB)
• Forecasted economic contribution is 4.9 US$ bn
by 2019 (SPTO)
• Double tourist arrivals by 2040 to 3 million
(World Bank)
• Annual growth rate of 3% per annum in tourist
arrivals (World Bank)
• Additional 127,600 jobs to the region by 2040
(World Bank)

17. KEY CHALLENGES FOR TUVALU

18. 1. Lack of awareness on destination Tuvalu (how to get here, where to stay, what
to do, where to eat…)
2. Lack of awareness on Target source markets/ customers & global market
trends
3. Maintaining an extraordinary overall tourist experience (food and culinary
offering is a key component to this)
4. Unawareness or no clear definition of Tourism Assets, Products, Positioning
5. Products similar to other PI destinations – ‘differentiation’ – Don’t’ blend-IN
with the crowd
6. Lack of specialized product development (niche products vs traditional leisure
product): transition from mass tourism (-ve impacts)
7. No or lack of distribution channels/networks with specialist Buyers –
retail/wholesale/ consumers
8. Accessibility and high cost of travel (Fiji Airways - monopoly airline)
9. Unreliable and expensive internet
10. Long distance from major source markets
11. Funding needs for proper product planning, development and marketing
(sales & advertising) to compete in global tourism market

19. KEY OPPORTUNITIES FOR TUVALU

20. TRAVELERS’ VALUES ARE CHANGING
• Booming economies of Asian countries- China outbound 700 mil in 2017
• Growing middle class with increased personal wealth and disposable
income (India)
• Aspirations and core values of travelers are changing – environmentally
responsible, seeking culturally rich and off-the-beaten track experiences,
desire to give back to communities.
• Travelers want to immerse themselves in true authentic and unique
experiences (Natural Beauty and Culture), with a “WOW” factor

21. Evolving Mindsets

22. The Rise of the enlightened traveler

23. Embrace Tuvalu’s Tourism Assets?
An asset is something that you posess that is valuable. A tourism asset is a
country, city, town or region that owns a feature such as the Great Pyramids
that brings people and their money to their country.

24. 1. 9 coral islands
2. Remote, uncrowded and beautiful places (sun,
sand, beach)

25. 3. People - friendly and peaceful

26. 4. Home to some of world’s untouched coral reefs and sea life
5. Unique coral atoll geography and ecology

27. 6. Vibrant and living culture

28. TOURISM PRODUCT/s Opportunities for Tuvalu
A tourism product can be defined as the sum of the physical and
psychological satisfaction it provides to tourists during their travelling
route to the destination. The tourist product focuses on facilities and
services designed to meet the needs of the tourist

29. 1. Water-based tourism -
relates to any touristic
activity undertaken in or in
relation to water such as
lakes, marine coastal
zones, seas, rivers,
oceans etc: DIVING,
SNORKELING,
YACHTING, CRUISING,
FISHING…

30. 2. Culture Tourism – concerns
a traveler's engagement with a
country or region's culture,
specifically the lifestyle of the
people in those geographical
areas, the history of those
people, their art, architecture,
religion(s), and other
elements that helped shape
their way of life.

31. 3. Heritage tourism: "traveling
to experience the places,
artifacts and activities that
authentically represent the
stories and people of the
past", and "heritage tourism
can include cultural, historic
and natural resources

32. 3. Ecotourism - tourism
directed towards exotic
natural environments,
intended to support
conservation efforts and
observe wildlife.
Climate change tours, to capitalise on one of Tuvalu’s
strengths: the fact that many potential visitors know it’s
in danger from rising sea levels, and that it receives aid
for renewable energy and climate change adaptation
projects. Perhaps these tours could visit and learn about
current projects (renewable energy projects), include
information about climate change and how it is affecting
small island nations, meet local people doing interesting
things. With a take-home message: how tourists can
reduce their impact in their home countries, and thereby
help Tuvalu. As far as I know, such tours aren’t being
offered anywhere else in the world. Perhaps this could be
a Tuvaluan first?

33. 4. Multiple destination
tourism ‘niche products’ -
defined as a single trip that
includes visitation
to destinations shared by
two or more countries that
offer and promote a
joint tourism product or
route (Fiji + Tuvalu (Funafuti
+ outer island) product.
Promoting multi-
country destinations can be an
efficient and profitable strategy
to attract visitors that might not
otherwise consider visiting

34. The future of Tuvalu is perfect for development
of SUSTAINABLE TOURISM (Niche tourism
products for niche travelers)
Focused on needs of the Enlightened Traveler (Not
about #s (quantity) but on quality impact visitors (high
yield) with best interests on long term sustainability of
islands, people and culture at heart.
 Niche Product identification
 Niche Product Development
 Niche Tourism product policy, standards, enforcements
 Niche Product packaging + pricing
 Marketing – distribution to specialist (niche) travel agents,
travelers, tourists..
 Niche product Marketing strategy + planning + execution
+ Brand Tuvalu

35. SPTO’S CULINARY INITIATIVES
2014-2015
DEVELOPMENT at REGIONAL LEVEL

36. • Objective - to enhance the sustainability of the
country’s tourism sector through greater use of
local produce and less reliance on foreign
imports
• conducted 3 regional and 4 in-country Culinary
Training Workshops
• 2 regional workshops in Fiji (11 PICs: Cooks Is,
Samoa, Niue, Tonga, Solomon Is, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Fiji,
PNG, Palau and Tuvalu)
CULINARY WORKSHOPS UNDER EU PROJECT

37. • 1 regional workshop in Samoa (Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu,
American Samoa, Solomon Islands)
• 2 in country workshops in Samoa (Upolu & Savaii)
• 1 in country workshop in Tonga
• 1 in country workshop in Solomon Islands
• A total of 162 chefs trained
• 1 in country workshop in Tuvalu on customer service and
food & beverage training, food preparation & handling
techniques (July 2018)

38. • Developed a network of Pacific Culinary Contacts
to share ideas and recipes etc.
• Developed strategic partnerships, opportunities
and funding resources amongst developing
partners (such as SPTO, PIPSO, CTA, SPC-PAPP)
that will strengthen the link between tourism and
the agriculture sector.
• Produced culinary training manuals and DVDs

39. LESSONS LEARNT – WAY FORWARD

40. • Need for a Pacific Agri-Tourism and Seafood Strategy for the Pacific
encompassing a robust Pacific Chefs Development Strategy (SPTO,
PIPSO…)
• Need for the Agriculture Sector to ensure consistency and quality
produce to the tourism and hospitality industry (Tuvalu)
• Subsistence farmers to establish cooperatives to market their supplies
and link with the tourism industry (Tuvalu)

41. • Consistent culinary capacity building for member countries
needed (SPTO, PIPSO…)
• Pacific Islands to establish national Culinary Associations and
a pool of in-country qualified trainers (Tuvalu)
• Regular dialogue and strategic partnerships between
partners/donors to pool resources and avoid duplication
(country and regional level)

42. THANK YOU