theangle.org

Sunset at Apia, Samoa. Credit: Paul Bateson

By Rich Bowden:

Paul Bateson, Associate and Senior Consultant at sustainability partners EcoSteps, spoke over coffee this week to theangle.org‘s Rich Bowden  about the recent Tourism Investment for the Development of Enterprise and Sustainability (TIDES) conference in Apia, Samoa.

The conference, which had been postponed from its original date in November 2009 because of the devastating tsunami which struck Samoa, was a “fantastic opportunity to showcase sustainable tourism initiatives,” said Bateson.

He spoke of the conference’s determination to build contacts to carry out such initiatives in response to the effects of climate change in the region.

“Clearly climate change, and the responses that are required, is one of the key drivers for tourism in the South Pacific to become more sustainable,” he said. This required “…planning and implementing for the current generation as well as for future generations, not compromising the future.”

“Tourism is a key element of sustainable development to ensure the long term prosperity of local communities,” he continued. “…The platform has to be sustainability.”

“Samoa is one of the first nations in the world to look at becoming a carbon-neutral economy,” Bateson told theangle.org and added that financial support from organisations such as AUSAid and NZAid would help the country move towards those goals.

With regard to the repair and construction of tourism infrastructure, Bateson said even simple measures such as the building of tourist centres and cultural places away from the possibility of storm surge damage, would assist in developing the industy’s tourism sustainability.

Sustainable tourism had a big role to play in the transition of the economy with February’s TIDES conference supporting a focus on “appropriate” and sustainable tourism which would benefit all residents of the Pacific Islands.

“[There are] a couple of exciting proposals for Samoa for example, [which] really target the local village and community level. The integration of sustainability at this level… is very much pitched at local, traditional ownerships,” he said.

Asked about the state of the Samoan tourism industry following the tsunami, Bateson said his impression was the outlook was “very positive” for the Samoan tourism industry, which was “bouncing back very quickly” from the destruction wrought by last year’s tsunami.

“They need more assistance, but the tourism industry is thriving once again in Samoa and it is a very positive outlook.”

Paul Bateson is an Associate and Senior Consultant at sustainability partners EcoSteps.

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