The Australian representatives of New Caledonia Tourism, Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority, Tourism Solomons, and Tahiti Tourisme have formed a working group to help the proposed South Pacific Travel Bubble, or Trans-Pacific Bubble become a reality.
Dreaming of a trip to New Caledonia, PNG, the Solomon Islands or Tahiti? Well, a South Pacific adventures could be closer than you think after the Australia representatives of these countries backed the idea of a South Pacific bubble last week.
The group’s objective is to forge collaboration and positive discussion between the national governments of the South Pacific and Australia, as well as relevant stakeholders throughout the region, and demonstrate there’s a strong appetite from the tourism industries in these countries/territories for a South Pacific Travel Bubble.
“The concept of a South Pacific bubble is of great importance to many people – and not just those desperate to get back to a tropical island, which I think many of us are dreaming of right now! Tens of thousands of Australians rely on outbound travel for their jobs, and tourism is the lifeblood of entire nations in the South Pacific,”
Caroline Brunel, Account Director, Tahiti Tourisme, Australia and New Zealand
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What’s going on?
A formal letter was submitted by the group to the offices of both the Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers, outlining the benefits of including the Pacific nations in a regional travel bubble, including:
- Tourism has a positive impact on the livelihoods of many in the South Pacific, not only from a direct economic benefit standpoint, but also in its ability to unite communities, encourage the preservation of indigenous culture, and place a greater focus on environmental protection. It offers the widest-reaching and fairest economic spread to businesses and communities.
- For some of the countries/territories listed, tourism is the number one industry for employment whilst for others it is a high-growth economic driver that is helping aide-reliant countries gain financial independence.
- For all the countries/territories listed, Australia represents the most important inbound market and one of the highest sources of visitor arrivals. This not only provides benefit to the countries/territories in the group but also job security for the tens of thousands of Australians that work in travel and tourism and rely on outbound travel for job security.
- Reopening borders with Australia’s South Pacific neighbours and allowing their tourism industries to reboot is undoubtedly the fastest and most effective way Australia can help.
The group also outlined in its letter that there have only been 88 cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths in New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Tahiti combined and that they recognise any proposal for a reopening of international borders would require considerable planning and negotiation between various government bodies, along with strict control measures and enhanced health monitoring.
Andrew Cavallaro, Australian/New Zealand Market Representative, Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority, said of the group’s lobbying, “Tourism is a vitally important source of employment and economic driver for our South Pacific neighbours, all of whom are heavily reliant on Australian and New Zealand visitors for their survival.
“We play a pivotal role in helping these Pacific islands find their feet again following the devastating impacts of COVID-19 and opening borders to establish a South Pacific bubble is undoubtedly the fastest and most effective means to helping them reboot.”
Andrew Cavallaro, Australian/New Zealand Market Representative, Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority
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