By Martha Taumata Fa’avae
The use of local hotels around urban Apia to quarantine the returning travellers stranded in New Zealand, is a true blessing in disguise for the local tourism related industry.
Most grateful of all is the President of the Samoa Hotel Association, SHA, Tupa’i Saleimoa Vaai.
Granted it is temporary relief but to the SHA President it is a blessing that comes at a time when they needed it the most.
“Right now our industry is in a lot of economic pain and the decision by Government to house our stranded arrivals in hotels, is a helping hand reaching out to us in our time of desperate need,” Tupa’i acknowledged with a deep sense of gratitude.
“We have some income circulating in the industry again not just for hotels but for catering services responsible for feeding the detained travellers.”
The hoteliers are aware of the coronavirus pandemic threat with their guests arriving from an already infected destination but they trust the health security systems in place.
“We have put our faith in the work of our health and quarantine workers on the screening process adopted for these new arrivals into the country.”
More than a thousand people are being flown in on carefully scheduled flights when the health task team are satisfied and ready for the next lot to be safely allowed entry.
The first large group of arrivals are due to complete their 14 days of isolation this coming Friday.
The next scheduled flight is due in this Friday as well but that remains to be finalised depending on the all clear approval from the health task force.
Big smiles of relief should grow even bigger on the President of the hotel industry as more people arrive
“We should be able to distribute the new arrivals for each hotel to have a share of the earnings as a quarantine site before the whole arrangement ends.”
The hotels did benefit earlier before the lockdown shut the borders to international travel, with the last inbound flights from Fiji and New Zealand to land in Samoa.
The repatriation guests are the most the hotels are making over a longer period of stay and it is breathing life back for now into the survival struggles of the industry.
“Apart from our quarantine engagements, little change has returned to revive our revenue earnings since the slow down started with the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have been trying to refocus all our efforts into the promotion of our local market with each hotel to arrange their own accommodation packages with attractive offers to bring in guests.”
The local market is the best hope for all industries related to tourism with lockdown restrictions expected to remain for as long as the coronavirus pandemic shows little sign of fading out.
Samoa is not the only country where lockdown measures are enforced. Global restrictions on the movement of people are also having a longterm effects on the revival of tourism.
The idea of a ‘ travel bubble’ or a corridor to allow free travel without quarantine restrictions is being floated by Australia and New Zealand to kick start the return of flights between the two countries.
Samoa is among the Pacific Island countries that could be included in the ‘travel bubble’ but whether the terms of entry will suit health restrictions against the coronavirus is an issue to be worked out.
The local task force, however, is monitoring very closely the spread of the virus in New Zealand, while the repatriation of the stranded travels to Samoa are continuing.
“New Zealand has remained free of any new cases of the virus for the last 11 days and that is good for our confidence,” Ulu Bismarck Crawley, head of the National Emergency Operations Control Centre said last week.
“ The longer the virus free streak continues the higher our confidence grows that we are able to fly in more of our stranded people home.”
Ulu believes the more people booked to fly out of New Zealand the better the chances of the airfares coming down for more people to afford the travel costs.
The next flight due in will raise speculation of whether it will fly in more than the 146 who arrived just over a week ago.