Beach fales vital to Samoan tourism

A villager cleans up what is left of Vave Beach Bungalows, Samoa's first resort. Photo / Greg Bowker

Samoan beach fales in areas worst-hit by this week's tsunami were a model for Pacific development, breathing life into rural areas and giving young Samoans something to stay for.

That was until Wednesday .

Now some villagers do not know if they can bear to rebuild their livelihoods - though tourism experts say it is the mainstay of the local economy.

Regina Scheyvens, a Massey University researcher who specialises in Pacific tourism and economic development, said tourism was the main source of income for villages and it was sad to hear survivors say they didnot know if they would or could rebuild.

She published a study this year extolling the virtues of beach fales in Lalomanu and other villages in the south and southeast of the main island, Upolu - the areas worst hit by the tsunami.

Officials have put the preliminary cost of damage to resorts, family homes, roads, powerlines and water supplies at US$36 million ($50.4 million) and rising, leaving aside the human toll of the dead.

Dr Scheyvens said the beach fale industry "was ... giving Samoan families the opportunity to have a sustainable livelihood while living in their home area".

"Tourism in Samoa was something special. It wasn't ever the rich, white tourists who go and sit on a sun lounger by the pool and snap their fingers and expect [to be served]."

Brent Thomas, retail director at the House of Travel, said based on previous disasters in other countries, bookings in parts of Samoa not damaged by the tsunami would bounce back within six weeks. How the damaged parts fared would depend on how quickly devastated infrastructure could be rebuilt.

"Until major infrastructure is rebuilt you're going to have difficulty getting bookings."

Dr Scheyvens said tourism was Samoa's biggest earner, estimated at US$70 million a year. In the past two years Samoa had risen through the ranks to become the third most popular destination in the Pacific.

Before the disaster elders were rapt to see young people choosing to stay and work at home, rather than leaving for Apia, Auckland or Sydney.

She said it was a much better model for locals than the large resorts in countries such as Fiji.

"These were small-scale family-owned establishments ... they were basic but comfortable beach fales and they attracted a different sort of tourist," she said. "People ended up feeling like a part of the family."