Question:
Discuss about the Tourism Market Of Vanuatu’s Broken Dream.
Vanuatu is a significant Pacific region tourism market for Australian cruise ship organizations (Aph.gov.au 2014). Any organization follows the corporate social responsibilities to gain the triple bottom line profit that are social, financial and environmental benefits. Most companies follow the principles to achieve the sustainability of the profit. While performing a business in a region outside its home state, it is not just the temporary profit that the company aims, the responsibilities related to reputation building, taking care of the host nation and communities and ethics become important. However the hospitality and tourism industry is far behind from adapting the corporate social responsibilities more effectively as it is being experienced in the Cruise ship tourism business in Vanuatu (Coles et al. 2013). In order to maximize the profit they are engaging in ethical misconducts which are affecting the tourism and hospitality market as a whole. The tourists and the local communities of similar business scenario have been demanding more ethical practice in the tourism business (de Grosbois 2012). There are many ethical issues that can be found in the Vanuatu’s Broken Heart video. The local communities of the Islands like Espirito Santo, Efate, Pentacost and others have been experiencing various ethical problems caused by the cruise ship tourism business in their area.
The local communities were supposed to get great economic profits primarily from the landing and anchorage fees. There are other secondary means that promised to help the growth of the local economy, like from the local food or brew business or flyers, souvenirs or local crafts and accessories. However the reality that has been presented in the documentary speaks a different story. The local people have been given fewer opportunities to earn money. As the local businessman Flavio who runs a small shop with his wife at the beach when the cruise arrives expresses his concerns about the lack of fortune provided by the tourism business (YouTube 2013). The Vanuatu Tourist Community did not publish any financial report from 2008 to 2012 so the financial and ethical misconducts can be proved (YouTube 2013).
The cruise ship company only prioritizes its self-profit and in the process it ignores the community interest. The only time the community concern has been considered when the company profit is related. The management invested 800000 dollars for improving the facility of Vanuatu and it was used in well designed toilets and clean water facilities but the facilities are for only the tourists (Sbs.com.au 2013). The documentary presents how the family of the village leader lives with minimum facilities like any other families in the island.
The tourism company only cares for its stakeholders and the poor inhabitants of the Vanuatu islands as non stakeholders and ignored. The company does not do anything to change the societal structure of the community and helps the poor to stay poor only (Scheyvens et al. 2015). The tourism company is present here for more than 10 years and the development of the water system is meant for the tourists only. The tourists also do not trust the locals with their money as they feel the community’s lack of experience with cash flow makes them dishonest.
P & O Australia was supposed to improve the destination community’s social and economic well being. P & O Companies run the cruises with hundreds of tourists to the islands of Vanuatu (Pocruises.com.au 2017). The P & O Cruises of Australia should have invested more on training and guiding the community members developing their own craft and other businesses. However in reality the company did little to nothing to improve the economic condition of the islanders. There disbelief with the local community’s capability of handling money has fueled the condition. Though their assumption is completely wrong as Mr. Barnabas has being successfully involving local people in micro finance operations. The company feels that if the local people become financially independent their tourism business might get affected but after 30 years of independence and 10 years of P&O Australia the local people experienced no improvement as the company promised prior to the business (Wittersheim 2011). The local people of Vanuatu, under the leadership of Mr. Barnabas are trying to establish an economy that is no longer relies in the foreigners. The ethical, economic or social responsibilities the P&O Australia was supposed to fulfill but did not follow through.
P&O Cruise Company:
The cruise company can still contribute significant to improve the economic and social condition of Vanuatu by fulfilling their responsibilities. Before starting the tourism business they promised to invest money to bring positive changes in the communities but in reality it did not. The company can hire more people in their business and train new people to successfully get involved in the business. The basic facilities like toilet, water or primary school should be built by them to prove their concern for the community in order to establish a sustainable business. The company should promote agroecological tourism to enhance the livelihoods of smallholders (Addinsall et al. 2017).
The Tourists
The tourists must change their perspective towards the islanders, specifically regarding money handling issues (Desmond 2016). They are getting used to the contemporary cash flow system gradually. The tourists have to trust them. The tourists should not just act as passive observer of the inhabitants’ poor living condition and the inequality, their review and feedback for the company can encourage the company change his strategies.
The Government
The Vanuatu Government can change the situation by implementing certain specific rules and regulations related to the business of outsider Tourism Company in its land (Lee, Hampton and Jeyacheya 2015). The policies must be in favor of the local islanders and should be implemented in such a way that the any government officials or others can take any wrong advantages.
The Australian and Vanuatu government could have implemented various strategies in order to resolve the issues. The Australian Government should have monitored the tourism business of the cruise ships in the Vanuatu islands. The monitoring would have helped to identify the problem areas in the initial stages only. The monitoring would have helped to realize the inequality that is taking place regarding the development only for tourists and generate more profit (Tabani 2017). The Australian Government would also have checked the ethical misconducts by appointing some government officials in Vanuatu that has been affecting the country’s reputation in the global tourism market.
The Vanuatu Government should have participated during the initial phase of the business more actively. The government would have implemented the policies related to the improvement of its land more effectively. The government should have initiated an investigation while the finance report was not published by the tourism committee for 5 years. The local people have lost their faith in the government as mentioned by the freedom fighter in Broken Dreams. The government should have proved their presence and participation the development process by ensuring that local people are getting jobs in the cruises and local tourism based business is flourishing. The government would have taken initiative programs to educate the local people about the tourism business and they could get money. The government would have checked the physical condition of the development and how unfair and unequal it was for the people and informed the management and the Australian Government. Finally the Vanuatu government should have evaluated its policies at regular interval and made sure that the government officials are not involved in corruption.
1)The Vanuatu government should immediately evaluate the existing laws related to the tourism business by outsider companies. If the legislation is already in favor of the local inhabitants the government should immediate take actions to implement them effectively. If the legislation needs improvement, it should be immediately done by a committee of skilled professionals that must include a representative of the local people and businessmen. The modification of the legal aspects is not enough; the government must set a committee who will monitor the cruise management activities, tourists’ activities and the activities of various local business committees. The government will investigate every stage of the system to find out the corruption and will make sure the money is getting spent in the right places.
2)The cruise company must evaluate their code of ethics and update accordingly if needed. The gap between their policies and the reality must be bridged. The P&O Australia practice the code of ethics that states that they are responsible for protecting the environment of the destination’s surrounding by sound ethical practices. The company immediately develops a community toilet and clean water system for the local people. This way the company will gain their trust and rectify their issues and establish a fair and sustainable business for the future.
3)The local people should make their presence more visible to the company and to the tourists. Their lives should be integrated with the practice of mutual benefit through successful tourism business. The people must reestablish their faith on the government and take active participation in the effective programs initiated by the government. Finally they must grow their knowledge regarding the financial issues and engage more positively in the micro finance operations. This way the country will become financially independent and the issues will be minimized in the future.
References
Addinsall, C., Weiler, B., Scherrer, P. and Glencross, K., 2017. Agroecological tourism: bridging conservation, food security and tourism goals to enhance smallholders’ livelihoods on South Pentecost, Vanuatu. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(8), pp.1100-1116.
Aph.gov.au. (2014). Assessment of the Economic Impact of Cruise Ships to Vanuatu Report. [online] Available at: https://aph.gov.au [Accessed 13 Sep. 2017].
Coles, T., Fenclova, E. and Dinan, C., 2013. Tourism and corporate social responsibility: A critical review and research agenda. Tourism Management Perspectives, 6, pp.122-141.
de Grosbois, D., 2012. Corporate social responsibility reporting by the global hotel industry: Commitment, initiatives and performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(3), pp.896-905.
Desmond, J.C., 2016. Afterword: Ambivalence, Ambiguity and the ‘Wicked Problem’of Pacific Tourist Studies. Touring Pacific Cultures, p.439.
Lee, D., Hampton, M. and Jeyacheya, J., 2015. The political economy of precarious work in the tourism industry in small island developing states. Review of International Political Economy, 22(1), pp.194-223.
News. (2013). Vanuatu’s Broken Dreams. [online] Available at: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/vanuatus-broken-dreams [Accessed 13 Sep. 2017].
P&O Cruises Australia. (2017). X741 | Discover Vanuatu. [online] Available at: https://www.pocruises.com.au/cruises/discover-vanuatu/x741 [Accessed 13 Sep. 2017].
Scheyvens, R., Hughes, E., Pratt, S. and Harrison, D., 2015. Tourism and CSR in the Pacific. Tourism in Pacific Islands: Current Issues and Future Challenges, 48, p.134.
Tabani, M., 2017. Development, Tourism and Commodification of Cultures in Vanuatu. Tides of Innovation in Oceania: Value, materiality and place, p.225.
Wittersheim, É., 2011. Paradise for sale. The sweet illusions of economic growth in Vanuatu. Journal de la Société des Océanistes, (2), pp.323-332.
YouTube. (2013). Vanuatu’s Broken Dreams. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMACsi8j3us [Accessed 13 Sep. 2017].
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