Find Tourism and Travel partners in Vanuatu

Overview

Tourism and travel contributed 53% of Vanuatu’s GDP in 2011, a figure which is set to fall in the short term but rise by 4.8% by 2022 according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Consequently the WTTC ranked Vanuatu 7th out of 181 countries in terms of the relative contribution of tourism to the economy (GDP). The sector is a major employer; 47.0% of total employment is supported directly and indirectly by tourism. In real terms this means that around 31,000 people are employed in travel and tourism in the country (2011). Visitor exports account for 74.1% of Vanuatu’s total exports (2011, WTTC estimate). In 2010 Vanuatu welcomed 97,000 tourists to the country. 

Investment

The National Tourism Development Office is charged with monitoring and promoting the growth of Vanuatu’s tourism industry and ensuring the standard of services and projects.  The Vanuatu Tourism Office promotes tourism internationally and the sector is overseen by the Ministry of Trade, Tourism, Commerce and Industry. The marketing is mainly focused on New Zealand and Australia and the country is promoted as being a nearby haven of cultural diversity and a variety of tourist activities. The tourism sector in the country is highly developed and diverse with a good infrastructure; it caters for both leisure and active tourism with spas, shopping, fishing and adventure holidays. Vanuatu welcomes tourists on all budgets and has a wide variety of accommodation on offer. With a lush and abundant natural environment ecotourism is very popular.

Investment in the travel and tourism sector in 2011 was VUV4,846.5mn, constituting 24.8% of total investment.  This was expected to rise by 13.9% in 2012, and then continue to rise by 5.5% pa over the following ten years, rising to VUV9,397.3mn by 2022.