By Tupuola Terry Tavita
EDITOR

As you have noted with our recent issues, this publication has been running a series on some of Samoa’s little-known and untouched natural sites.

And there are plenty of them.

Sleepy little leafy coves and capes, uninhabited stretches of sandy bays, rugged mountain ranges, rivers, lakes and waterfalls aplenty. Sites that rival any top end destination in the Pacific.

The point is, this country has a lot of untapped tourism potential.

But government and the Tourism Authority can only bring in so many tourists. Keeping them here and bringing them back requires a concerted effort by the private sector.

Many tourists are not getting the excellent first-time experience that will keep bringing them back to Samoa, and telling their friends about. They are being ripped off and not getting their money’s worth by some local tourism-related operators.

For instance, Samoa has probably the most expensive restaurants in the whole region.

There’s a small resort in Savai’i that charges $85 a lobster on its menu while the little crustaceans crawl right up to the beach just meters away. One restaurant in Apia – far from top-end fine dining standards – prices three thin strips of steak on a chunk of rice for $65.The cheapest item at a roadside restaurant in Lalomanu is a bowl of fries for a whopping $13! A beach fale operator, also in Savai’i, delights in his guests dining on meager servings of rice and curry while just a few meters away – in plain sight – his family gorge on pot roast, steak, talo and all victual fineries.

It’s just ridiculous. What tourist would want to go back there?

The fact is, there is a concept called international rates. But you charge international rates when you have international standard infrastructure and service. You charge five star prices when you have five-star services and facilities. Not when you operate a roadside diner.

But then that’s how these outlets operate. They have an inclination for ripping off first time customers. ‘You don’t like our prices and our services, go eat somewhere else. Just pay your bill.’

These are the same people who are first to jump up and down and accuse government and STA of not doing enough to bring in the tourists.

Across the board, Samoa does not attract many high rollers and big spenders. Most of the tourists that come here are middle-class working folk and their families who budget their finances for an island holiday.

They can’t afford to eat at these restaurants. Most likely they will not come back and they tell their friends of the miserable so-called fine eateries in Samoa. Is it any wonder also that Samoans – even the moneyed ones – don’t go to these joints. You will find them instead at the Chinese restaurants. Run by people who know how to cook good chow and charge reasonable prices. Smart business folk who operate on short mark-ups and hefty turnovers by bringing their customers back time and again.

In hindsight, you wonder again why so many tourists flock to Fiji. You can actually get a good steak meal for less than $20 (WST) at the Peking Palace, the Vineyard Palace or any of the fine dining bistros in downtown Suva.

That’s what our tourism industry is up against.

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