The Tanoa Dateline Hotel in Nuku'alofa after the January 2022 eruption is receiving guests. Photo / Facebook, Tanoahotels
The Tanoa Dateline Hotel in Nuku'alofa after the January 2022 eruption is receiving guests. Photo / Facebook, Tanoahotels
Just over a year on from a devastating subsea eruption, hotels and resorts in South Tonga are still dealing with the aftermath.
While South Pacific islands are still idyllic as ever, those arriving in Nukuʻalofa still get a sense of the disruption to infrastructure and livelihoods that the tsunami brought.
Much-amended guides and pamphlets are covered with amendments and lists of resorts and services that are still closed or destroyed completely.
On January 15 the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai volcano triggered an enormous explosive eruption, just 60 km off the shore of Tongatapu. Visible from space, the effects were felt as far afield as New Zealand and Japan.
In the nearby Kingdom of Tonga, four people were killed by sea surges that rocked the remote islands.
Tourism is still a mainstay for the islands’ economy. Cruise ships returned to Tonga in October last year, following a pause during the Covid pandemic. Compared to brick and mortar.
One New Zealand tourist, recently returned, said the trip was enjoyable but there were signs of the eruption everywhere.
Tonga Amendments: Lists of and resorts and facilities damaged by the HTHH eruption are stapled to guides. Photo / Supplied
“A year on, many of the beaches remain closed (roads are washed out), many of the owners of resorts have simply decided not to rebuild,” they said.
The What’s On Tonga contained a long list of amendments for tourists. On the West of Tongatapu, which was worst affected, several resorts are listed as “destroyed by the HTHH eruption and subsequent Tsunami.”
“Cruise ships are still visiting but the island is still trying to figure out what tourists want in terms of their experience there,” said. As far as they were concerned Tonga delivered on all its promises, with plenty of beaches to swim at and a place to get a cool drink, but the aftermath of the HTHH was sobering.
Impact still ‘largely unmeasured’
At the beginning of the year, the Tourism Ministry of the Kingdom of Tonga released an assessment into the impact of the eruption and wider pandemic shutdown on the sector.
Minister For Foreign Affairs and Minister For Tourism, Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, said they were only now addressing the damage to physical infrastructure.
“The devastating impact of cumulative crises on Tonga’s tourism industry is evident but, until now, largely unmeasured,” he said.
Beachfront properties and tourism accommodation were disproportionately impacted by the eruption, with 32 per cent of the islands’ supply of tourist beds reporting damage.
23 properties were recorded as either severely damaged or “completely destroyed”.
Royal Sunset Island Resort: Over 30 per cent of tourist beds were affected by the HTHH eruption. Photo / Ministry of Tourism Tonga
Since the borders reopened to tourists in August, monthly leisure arrivals have represented between five per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
The Ministry of Tourism says market uncertainty remains about Tonga’s readiness for tourism, while many would be slow to arrive.
The sectors’ biggest hope for recovery is the whale-watching season. As a key migration site for Humpback and other whale species, July to October is typically the peak tourism season for Tonga as the animals swim past.
Tonga is one of the world's top destinations for diving with humpback whales. Photo / George Karbus, Getty Images
Whales and airlines returning to Vava’u
The ministry has high hopes for pent-up demand for whale watching combined with the return of international flights to Vava’u this year 2023.
Whale guide and dive master Nadia Aly of Humpback Swims says that the whales will be there no matter what.
“The 2022 whale season was amazing, I was there the entire time that the borders were open, and we had a blast with the whales,” she says.
Thankfully the HTHH eruption happened well outside the whale season and the whales appeared to show no effect on behaviour or numbers.
Based out of Vava’u, the return of flights in time for the whale watching season is an important goal for Tonga’s tourism industry.
Last month Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni announced an intention to revive the state-owned airline Lulutai and that Fiji Airways would be back in Vava’u by June, this year.
The whales will already be on their way north to Tongan breeding grounds after a summer spent around Antarctica. All going well, there will be some tourists there to meet them.
