Samoa may still be an ‘under-the-radar’ travel destination for Aussie travellers, but it’s slowly gaining some popularity, according to latest figures.
Speaking to KarryOn at the Samoa Roadshow in Sydney last week, Dwayne Bentley, Samoa Tourism Authority’s Manager Marketing & Promotions, said Australia is the destination’s biggest market, growing by double digits every year.
Last year, the island nation hit the big 30,000 in Australian arrivals – a figure Dwayne said the destination’s tourism leaders were particularly proud of.
Now with the launch of the new ‘Beautiful Samoa’ television campaign, tourism to the destination is expected to boom.
Read more of our interview with Dwayne about Samoa and growing trends in the destination below:
What’s new in Samoa?
The obvious new thing is the entrance of the Sheraton – it’s our first global brand. We will have two properties by the end of the year.
It’s a huge achievement for the destination to have a brand with such strength.
The other new thing is the first – five star resort Taumeasina Island. Plus of course, there are existing properties that are upgrading and refining their amenities and facilities.
How has the Sheraton impacted tourism so far?
Hugely and it’s going really well. The feedback from the travel trade has been great.
To have a brand like Sheraton that is globally known is incredible. It has the distribution systems and the marketing network and that’s something that we as a destination can tap into.
For example it has the largest loyalty program in the world and Samoa is going to be exposed through that network. It’s huge.
How big is the Aussie market?
The Australian market is huge for Samoa. It’s our biggest growing market.
Last year more than 30,000 Aussies visited Samoa and that’s the first time we’ve cracked the 30,000 mark.
It’s growing double digit growth every year and we’re expecting big things from Australia.
Do you have any targets set for the coming years?
We tend to target between five- to- seven-percent year on year but as I said Australia has been growing at double digits for the past three-to-five years.
Do you find it difficult competing with other South Pacific nations?
Not at all, they’ve paved the way for us, particularly in the Australian market.
Also, keep in mind that the Australian market is huge, from Sydney alone there are five million people and that’s more than enough to go around.
As a destination we’re quite different from others out there and we’re building on that and showcasing the highlights of Samoa and as I said Australia for us is growing at 10-12 percent annually and that’s indicative of the strategy we’ve got in the Australian market.
What sets Samoa apart from other South Pacific islands?
We’ve done research and thing that stands out is that “Samoa is beautiful”. This is coming straight from the consumers.
