Should Rotuma consider Tourism??
/r/Rotuma/comments/1hmri49/should_rotuma_consider_tourism/9
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u/Sorta_Meh 🇫🇯 Tikitiki Kai Viti Vasu Rotuma, Suva Branch. 2d ago edited 1d ago
Yes, now i don't consider myself an expert on the subject, and these are only my opinions on the topic. It is neither the right or wrong answer, but i think for the sake of discussion, it is good to keep the mind open to the possibilities.
Personally, i think the island should consider tourism, but i'm not talking about large tourism ventures like Denarau, Sheriton, Intercon, etc. Something smaller and more manageable.
Think small....maybe even medium scale eco tourist development, or homestay style accommodation.
Ideally the tourism venture should be run by the locals. Money made goes into support the island interms of familes or development on the islands
One Family looks after the accommodation One Family provides transport to guests One Family provides local food (Fruits, Veg, Taro, Fish, Lobster, Pig, etc) One Family looks after protocols One Family looks after entertainment One Family looks after guest activities: a. Diving and Snorkeling activities b. Fishing activities c. Water Sports (Surfing, etc) d. Hikes around the island e. Traditional handicraft f. Island Tour (History etc) g. Picnics etc.
I'm sure there could be a whole range of activities that could be through up to keep the guests engaged and entertained during their stay.
So, with an outline of what is possible. What would we need to support it?
- Accessibility to the island We need to bring guest in & out and most importantly, we need to bring supplies in. The Boat brings in Cargo on a monthly basis for the whole island. So we either need more frequent boats; or A larger boat and greater capacity to store cargo on island
Guest can either arrive on island via boat or plane. Now the Twin Otter service the island, fares are expensive and seats are very limited. I'm going to assume that flights are weekly cause i'm lazy to actually look it up
Flights are expensive, and seals are always booked out, planes may also be weight restricted. This needs to be cleared with Govt and Air Fiji, but is there a possibility of extending the runway to 1.5km this should allow the island to be serviced by the ATR72. Large passenger and cargo capacity, airfare costs need to be determined to determine the feasibility of the upgrade to air services.
Aditionally there was discussion amongst the Rotuman community about purchasing a boat to service the island, (i could go off on a tangent regarding that) but if that was to ever materialize it could help with accessibility. Best case scenario 2 boats per month.
- Services Health services New hospital is up. Is it fully functional? pharmacy on the island? Emergency airlift to Suva?
Water. Borehole supply running on Generator due to limitations on the island power grid. Can't be run 24/7. We need consistent service other alternative option is Desalination.. relatively expensive option and needs to be regulary mentained. Package Desalination Plants are available on the market. Small enough unit Plug and Play to serve the toursim development should be enought
Sewerage. Non existent, if required. package units are available on the market that can service the development, expensive and requires regular O&M to run efficiently
Roads. Two track around the island. apparently, vehicles don't last long there so may need to be looked at.
Electricity. Runs on Generator and cuts off in the evening, plauged by fuel shortages and relies heavily on the once a month boat. Solar or Wind options for reliable supply?
Tourism can work, but it requires improvement to a lot of the services to and on the island. As well as getting the island to work together (easier said than done). Remittance coming into the island has a negative impact. People aren't farming anymore, not many work, why though when money comes in monthly for doing nothing?
There are things that need to be fixed first, it would be great if Rotumans could see the vision and work towards it. So, while i think Tourism would be positive, it should only happen if its Championed and led by the Rotumans, they need to take ownership and drive it. If not, we will end up with a Denarau style development with manpower brought in from Fiji while the locals sit around waiting for their remittences.
I'm viewing in it in how tourism can benefit the island, provide consistent employment for locals, money goes back into the island to improve the standard of living, improving service also improves the lives of the rest. Improved health care service, airservice, boat service benefits will trickle in.
Use tourism to then start boat service to the island supplimenting the current run as a privately operated venture (run by the island). You know have an employment avenue for those finishing maritime school or even those wanting to comeback (lord knows Rotuma has a lot of sailors). Boat does well, expand the fleet and start on running boats to other island (not really sure how franchising runs). The boat will also allow local produces on island to be brought to market and sold more regularly, cash goes back to the island. Buy land in Suva and build student accommodation to house students coming to suva for Uni....I'm sure you can start linking things together.
(Sorry, I went a little sour at the end, but again, my opinion)
Ultimately
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u/ro2man 1d ago
Thank you so much for this!! Very insightful and well thought!
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u/Sorta_Meh 🇫🇯 Tikitiki Kai Viti Vasu Rotuma, Suva Branch. 1d ago
Faeksia, I appreciate the award as well 👏
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u/sivasee 2d ago
From what I’ve heard most Rotumans don’t want tourism or visitors and they have been pretty consistent about that, so no.