Samoa is a small country in the Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands Savaii and Upolu with several smaller surrounding islands. It is a tropical island with two distinct seasons, the wet and the dry (peak) season. Until 2009 Samoa had enjoyed strong and steady growth in visitor arrivals. From data collected it can be analysed that between 1998 and 2008 total visitor arrivals had increased by nearly 80 percent to 122,163 (Figure 1) (IMF, 2010). Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) is one of the most prominent segments, comprising 37.3 percent of all visitors in 2009 (Figure 2) (IMF, 2010). The number of holiday tourists have also increased from 30.4 percent in 1997 to 39.8 percent in 2009, with the remainder being business visitors whose numbers have remained fairly stable (IMF, 2010). Prior to 2009, Samoa had been relatively competitive as a tourist destination in comparison to other Pacific Islands. Samoa has found its niche market with the fale (traditional beach hut) experience as a distinctive selling point. Furthermore, strong family links with Samoans living in neighbouring countries have significantly contributed to the growing strength of its tourism industry. As a result, tourism has become a key source of income and economic growth. Earnings in the tourism sector increased by 191 percent with growth particularly evident in the three years 2005-2008. Tourism receipts are approximately equivalent to 20 percent of GDP, making the sector by far the single largest commercial earner of foreign exchange.

As a small, isolated country in the Pacific, Samoa is dependent on tourism for jobs and economic growth (IFC, 2013). Therefore adequate and affordable transportation methods are vital through air linkages between Samoa and other countries. Airlines provide the majority of travel for holiday and VFR tourists alike which are Samoa’s two largest tourism markets. Samoa’s main airport is Faleolo International Airport, located on the northwest corner of Upolu island and it’s located 40kms away from Apia. Before 2005 the majority of international flights were offered by Air New Zealand and Samoa’s Polynesian Airlines was straining to stay afloat. The Samoan government had clear objectives for the aviation industry including ‘providing safe, efficient, and affordable international air transport to Samoa to support expansion of the tourism industry’ and ‘operating Polynesian Airlines in a commercially and financially sustainable manner’ (IFC, 08.13). Neither of these goals were being met. IFC found ‘that Polynesian Airlines’ inappropriate route and fleet structure, expensive aircraft leases, overstaffing, and uneven demand levels contributed to a $7.5 million loss (70 percent of the government’s total budget deficit) in 2004’ (2013). Tourism was growing only 4 percent a year, far below neighbouring destinations such as Fiji. It was at this stage the government sought an alternative to liquidating Polynesian Airlines. The idea of a joint venture between the government of Samoa and Australia’s Virgin Blue, a low-cost carrier, was proposed.
IFC served as the lead advisor for the innovative partnership, which established a new national airline, Virgin Samoa (formerly Polynesian Blue), and restructured the existing flagship carrier, Polynesian Airlines, to operate regional and local flight. Samoa’s decision to enter into this joint venture arrangement for international air services was a bold decision to improve its national carrier and some of the most influential gains in the tourism sector can reasonably be accredited to the joint venture airline. The scheme adjusted well to the new competitive environment and turned an annual $7.5 million government subsidy into a $6.9 million profit in just two years (IFC, 2013). This agreement was signed in September 2005. The IFC listed some of the benefits of this scheme, from 2005-2009, 243,000 people received improved airline service, far exceeding the estimate of 80,000 beneficiaries. By 2009, private sector investment was $10.6 million, greater than the expected $5 million over the life of the project. There was a 130 percent increase in inbound seat capacity from prior to the joint venture. Since 2005, tax collection from additional tourist arrivals is estimated at $1.86 million, and the total positive fiscal impact over the life of the project is $6.9 million. Other indirect benefits of the resulting expansion in tourist facilities created 671 jobs and increased national salaries and wages by $1.4 million. This addition of a new airline alliance directly affected the number of holiday tourists, which increased from 30.4 percent in 1997 to 39.8 percent in 2009. This surge of holiday visitor numbers after 2005 can be linked by Polynesian Blue creating competition with Air New Zealand and resulting in a considerable drop in airfares(between 30 and 45 percent). Consumers saved $57.7 million in reduced airfares during this period. Flights from Australia were also introduced by Polynesian Blue, giving Samoa access to an enlarged tourist market. The Samoan government took the risk of uniting its public airline with a private airline and its people, economy and tourism sector are now reaping the plentiful benefits. Seat capacity continues to grow expanding the amount of tourists capable of travel at one time and adding to the economy further.

Samoa’s climate is tropical all year round and it has two distinct seasons, the wet and dry seasons running from November to April and May to October respectively. The peak holiday tourist season is said to be between June and August during the winter in the Southern Hemisphere when hundreds of New Zealander’s and Australian’s descend on the islands of the South Pacific to escape the cold (STA Travel, n.d.). There is also another peak in December for VFR tourists returning home for the festive season. Although the hot climate is part of the appeal of holiday tourism in Samoa, the country itself is highly vulnerable to devastating storms, which are becoming more popular due to climate change and rising temperature and sea levels. This vulnerability is a detrimental factor to the Tourism sector. Climate change is steadily worsening and there are growing numbers of natural disasters each year. The tsunami that hit Samoa on September 29 2009 inflicted unprecedented damage to the Samoa’s vital tourism sector. The sheer physical destruction was significant but the loss of confidence in Samoa as a safe and attractive destination seemed to be irreparable. Tourism is the economy’s single most important foreign exchange earner and source of employment and so the tsunami damaged the economy as badly as it did the landscape. It also led to Samoa’s delayed recovery from the global recession.
Assessments by the UN and World Bank or the Samoa Tourism Authority (STA), suggested that around 20 percent of the capacity of rooms and beds was disabled. In certain areas, all of small-scale beach fales, which are unique to Samoa and crucial to holiday tourism, were destroyed. However, the Faleolo International Airport remained open. The timing of the tsunami at the end of September was just after the peak tourist season but before the festive season when the majority of VFR tourists arrive. The tsunami has changed perceptions about the desirability of Samoa as a holiday destination although as time passes its popularity is once again increasing. The extensive damage to existing tourism infrastructure, including surrounding village communities that make it a unique holiday experience, will need to be repaired. It was predicted from the Thai, Indonesian, and Maldives experience after the 2004 tsunami that it would take several years before tourism revenue returned to its comparable pre-tsunami level (IFC, 2013). The World bank stated ‘the most likely result of the Tsunami is that tourism will take a major dive and stay down… even in 10 years time, people will still be averse to coming to Samoa for a holiday because of the lingering doubt as a result of the 2009 publicity. This was huge event that will have severe and lasting consequences for Samoa tourism’ (n.d.). Having been several years since the tsunami, the sector is still struggling to regain its former strength though it is slowing re-growing. In 18 months the government had rebuilt 90% of the tourism infrastructure (World Bank, n.d.), but the tourists were still wary of the country. VFR visitor arrivals were predictably minimally impacted by the tsunami although their travel season shifted to earlier in the year, October-November as opposed to their original December travel. The impact on economic activity and the current account deficit was substantial. According to the reports, the overall damage and loss caused to individual, community and government infrastructure was estimated to be SAT $162 million (US $65 million) and economic loss at approximately SAT $97 million (US $39 million) making a total loss of SAT $260 million (US $104 million) (ERF 2009). Despite a relatively small direct contribution of tourism in the national accounts, tourism has been an important foreign currency earner and provider of employment and income. The damage caused by the tsunami is not only in terms of the loss in capacity but also the change in perception of Samoa as a safe destination and the impact on local area livelihood. Nevertheless, humanitarian efforts, the reconstruction process, as well as sporting events have helped alleviate the adverse impact of the tsunami to a certain extent.
Samoa is a small, isolated country, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and as such is reliant on strong air connections and is vulnerable to environmental changes occurring due to climate change. The air linkages were greatly improved in quality and price through the uniting of the government’s Polynesian Airlines and Virgin Airlines to form Virgin Blue which led to an increase on customer savings, increased expenditure and expansion of Samoa’s economy. Despite Samoa’s increase in popularity due to ease of access and more competitive rates of the new international airline, the tourism industry in Samoa took an enormous hit in the form of the 2009 tsunami. This disaster left the large majority of the tourism infrastructure destroyed in particular the beach fale, which Samoa is renowned for, and caused irreparable damage to the opinion of Samoa. Once and safe, desirable place to visit now is left appearing dangerous and severely vulnerable to the ravages of nature. The sector survives however and continues its attempts to regain its strength slowly utilising the strong family ties which bring continuous VFR tourists each year while utilising international support sporting events and to regain international favour and its spot as the second most popular Pacific island.

Reference List
STA Travel. (n.d.). Samoa’s Climate. Retrieved from http://www.statravel.co.nz/samoa-climate.htm
International Monetary Fund. (07.10). Samoa: Selected Issues. Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2010/cr10215.pdf
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (12.13). Samoa. Retrieved from http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Countries/Pacific/Samoa.php#airservices
International Finance Corporation. (08.13). Samoa: Virgin Samoa Airlines. Retrieved from http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/dc0281804983915b844cd6336b93d75f/PPPImpactStories_Samoa_VirginSamoaAirlines.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
The World Bank. (04.11). Rebuilding Paradise – Samoa’s recovery from the 2009 tsunami. Retrieved from http://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/rebuilding-paradise-samoas-recovery-from-the-2009-tsunami
Polynesian Airline of Samoa. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved from http://www.polynesianairlines.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=34
https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/1726/TagomoaIsaraTupe2010MTour.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y