May 2023 Vol 49 No.5

Independence party wins French Polynesia elections Aviation: ASPA’s new broom Aviation: How are Pacific government owned airlines performing? Aviation: Fiji Airways’ A350 degree turn World Bank to Pacific 9: Widen

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ASPA’s new broom

But regional airline challenges remain David Tohi is a new broom at the Association of South Pacific Airlines (ASPA). While he takes over from Fiji’s George Faktaufon, who spent more than 30 years as ASPA Chief

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How are Pacific government-owned airlines performing?

Throwing good money after bad? An expert on State Owned Enterprises with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Private Sector Development Initiative, Christopher Russell says the Samoan government’s experience with

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Briefs

American SamoaAmerican Samoa wants associate member status of the Pacific Islands Forum, after being an observer since 2011. Governor Lemanu Peleti Maunga said it was crucial for American Samoa to push for greater

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Movers and Shakers

Viranria Brown is the first woman to be appointed as Vanuatu’s High Commissioner to Fiji since independence. She previously served as the First Secretary to the Vanuatu High Commission in Suva from 2020 to 2023. Fiji

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Pacific leaders’ role critical for a more resilient tourism sector

Pacific tourism leaders have a critical role to play for a more resilient future Pacific tourism sector. Tourism in the Pacific is about relationship building, economic development, growth, and connectivity.  These

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Samoa visitor arrivals returning to pre-pandemic levels

Visitors to Samoa’s shores in the first quarter of 2023 totaled over 30,000 with data released by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics (SBS) showing arrivals beginning to get to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

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Over 11,000 travellers visited Samoa in February

A total of 11,411 travellers visited Samoa in February of this year, which according to the Samoa Bureau of Statistics (SBS) is a decrease of 34.4 percent over the previous month of January, 2023.  However, the latest

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Investing for tourism growth

The rebound in Fiji tourism has again exposed a vulnerability that an upcoming tourism investment summit seeks to address; the shortage of rooms to meet projected arrivals. Citing Fiji Airways’ forecasts and new route

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Briefs

American SamoaAmerican Samoa’s Department of Health says it will only allow school aged children who are vaccinated to attend school. This as neighbouring Samoa monitors several children suspected to have measles. The

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An Australian-funded safe ferries program would save lives in the Pacific

Marine safety and sea transport are major concerns for the Pacific Islands region. The island states have a high level of dependence on inter-island transport for the movement of both goods and people. All Pacific

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Kiribati welcomes resumed airline service

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) has welcomed the announcement by Nauru Airlines to resume its Island Hopper Service from October 16. This service last operated in March 2020, prior to the COVID-19 international

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